The intersection has four "segments", if you will. South 7th, North 7th, East D and West D. The security checkpoint was at South D. I saw the anarchist flags and the snowballs flying from West D. Most pedestrian traffic was coming from the direction of the capitol, East D. The motorcycle cops came in from North 7th. My wife and I were square in the middle of the intersection and had to get our of the way of the first police car to arrive.
I could see over the tops of the heads of the crowd and it wasn't only snowballs that the anarchists were throwing - I saw one of those metal crowd barriers upended, as well as broken pieces of PVC piping that was jagged on one end being thrown.
My wife and I decided that the crowd was too large to get through the checkpoint (it was around 1:30 or so) so we headed up North 7th to E street, where we came across a couple of dozen police donning their riot gear. It was at that point that we decided to head back to our hotel.
My wife and I decided that the crowd was too large to get through the checkpoint (it was around 1:30 or so) so we headed up North 7th to E street, where we came across a couple of dozen police donning their riot gear. It was at that point that we decided to head back to our hotel.
Ol' Sox... darn, you were down there this weekend and we didn't get a chance to meet you? Hopefully another time.
Excellent report in post 56 - you've provided some great details. To me, the crowd looked like a MIX of "anarchists", Bush-haters, anti-war activists, general unwashed, etc. Some *looked* somewhat dangerous, some like they had just jumped on the bandwagon, a FEW actually looked like "normal people", all looked vacant and clueless.
My husband (FReeper "zelig") thinks we were at that same checkpoint at around 1pm. Sounds like we just missed all of the 'action'. My husband was so intent on finding a Metro station once we made the decision to head back to the hotel, that I didn't notice as many details of the crowd as you did. I was racing to keep up with him - didn't want to get separated.
Thanks for the great first hand account.
bmwcyle and I were at the pub at 9th and F, two blocks north and two blocks west of the security gate when the anarchists went by.
Wasn't the security checkpoint at South 7th as you've identified the segments? South D is not one of the segments that you identified, but maybe I'm missing something.
At any rate, your account confirms my belief that the long line of police cars and motorcycles, passing by my location shortly after the anarchists, but going a different way, went to head off the anarchists at the 7th and D location.
Were the anarchists throwing the broken PVC and snowballs mainly at the regular (i.e., non-leftists) people waiting at the gate or at the police?
Did the PVC hit anyone and injure them, as far as you could tell?