I happened to be in Chicago during the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue, which took place from the seventh thru the nineth of November, 2002. The Autonomous Zone, along with various other organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee and Service Employees International Union, organized a big march and rally, followed on Saturday by an anarchist economic summit. First, I'll tell my story, and then I've got a few ideas to throw out there.

I joined the march about 4:30 or so. We marched through Downtown Chicago on our way to Grant Park, on Lake Michigan. Several people had portable PA systems and megaphones, and helped energize the march. There were a number of large puppets. The crowd numbered about 2500, much more than the figure reported by the Chicago media.

For several days before the meetings, the Chicago Police Department and the Media, including the Tribune, the Sun-Times, and their spin-off publications for young readers, the Red Eye and Red Streak, reported that the police expected lots of violence. The Sun-Times ran an article announcing a "Goon Squad" of cops 6'3" and taller that would scan the crowd, and be involved in snatch squads, groups of cops that enter large crowds and kidnap certain targeted people, often suspected leaders. The newspapers portrayed protesters in the 1999 Seattle protest and other protests as rioters that had to be controled by the police. The police cited numerous ways protesters conceal weapons. The night of the march, the local television stations reported that some protesters were concealing weapons under multiple layers of clothing.

Back to the march. We ended the march next to the hotel the business people were staying at, just north of Grant Park and on the north bank of the Chicago River. A number of people spoke. A drum circle then started, and I danced around for about an hour or so. people began to drizzle away.

After most people had broken up, I was with a small group of the march organizers. I noticed a cop blatantly videotaping them about 20 feet away. He had a badge visible. I wandered over and asked him why he was videotaping them. First he said because he wanted to, because he likes protests and was sight seeing. Then we got into a short discussion about the legality of videotaping people. I asked him again. He told me his superiors instructed him to. At some point he turned the camera on me, to intimidate me and get me to leave him alone. I did not. We bantered on about other things, and he finally tired of me and walked away. He obviously wasn't afraid of me hurting him.

My points are these:
1. We can't depend on the media, obviously. Protests, here in the US, depend on the media to have any effect. I think it's time to stop protesting for protesting's sake, and time to start organizing in communities of color, in labor unions, in places to build support. We do need to raise money, and spend it wisely.
2. I think we need to be more aware of the police and more careful when they're around.
3. I think we need an analysis of police tactics and strategies, so we can respond to them when they happen.

That's my piece.