Excerpt:
It was a violent counterpoint to an otherwise peaceful anti-war march not far from the Xcel Energy Center convention site. Many protesters involved in the more violent protest were clad in black and identified themselves to reporters as anarchists. They wrought havoc by damaging property and setting at least one fire. Most of the trouble was in pockets of a neighborhood near downtown, several blocks from where the convention was taking place.
Police estimates of the crowd shifted several times during the event, ranging from 2,000 to 10,000. The crowd was clearly in the thousands. Late Monday afternoon, long after the antiwar marchers had dispersed, police requested and got 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers to help control splinter groups near downtown.
..
An “anti war” group dressed in black, against violence attacks civilians.
Lovely.
At one point, people pushed a trash bin filled with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour road signs. One of them used a screwdriver to puncture the back tire of a limousine waiting at an intersection and threw a wooden board at the vehicle, denting its side. Another hurled a glass bottle at a charter bus that had stopped at an intersection. The bottle smashed into pieces but didn’t appear to damage the bus.
After the official march ended, police spent hours dispersing smaller groups of protesters, employing officers on horses, smoke bombs and tear gas.
Protesters put eye drops in each other’s eyes after police used chemical irritants such as pepper spray and tear gas. Some wore bandanas and masks to protect themselves.
Protesters were seen lying on an interstate exit ramp to block traffic in downtown St. Paul and linking arms to block other roads.
Forgive me for what I’m about to write is not really directed at you.
THESE PROTESTS NEVER HAVE BEEN ANTI-WAR. They have always been anti-American or anti-Western. Even in some obscure ‘causes’ you find out it’s really about perceived American involvement that draws these people out, not the cause itself.
Anarchists of the sort here are the Leftist Anarchists who have a different game plan but the same end point of the stateless communist society. IN that way, they are like the Anarchists in Spain during their civil war. They are not anarcho-libertarians/capitalists, certainly.
And like most radical Leftists these days, they are domestic terrorists, traitors and absolutely OK with any violence that furthers their cause. I could actually respect someone if they TRULY only opposed a particular government action (or ALL government actions, not just those by Republicans) but that is absolutely not what these people are about.
Anyone recall any large ‘anti-war’ marches during the whole Kosovo affair?