"Live" Notes from the Democratic National Convention

by Aaron Shuman

....Stories about provocateurs in the crowd is true, though there's been
some exaggeration about the materials thrown over the fence separating
delegates from the protest zone. black-clad anarchists were pressing against
the fence and giving cops the finger, and the lapd was using "supersoakers"
to douse the crowd with pepper spray to force them back, though don't
know who's chicken, who's egg. police directed protesters out of the protest
zone and up figueroa; then a cavalry of officers on horseback came riding
down figueroa, driving protesters back into the zone. they attempted to
herd protesters against the fence separating them from the delegates and
drive them out one exit. a toronto globe-mail reporter caught up in it
told me it was a "run the gauntlet" type situation, with police lined
along a narrow fenced-in corridor, delivering verbal and physical abuse
(kicks, batons). the protesters emerged onto olympic; some were given
contrasting directions from police lines, told to go east, then to go
west, then to go east again.