Police to clear city streets for March

The Palo Alto Police Department plans to clear all vehicles from the downtown area next week in preparation for a large protest by an anarchist group expected to cause chaos and property damage.

The City Council will vote tomorrow whether to suspend the $125 impound fee for towed vehicles on June 25 - the day the group Anarchist Action has marked for a second show of force, this time against the war in Iraq.

About 250 people affiliated with Anarchist Action marched in Palo Alto on May 20. What started as a peaceful march turned violent when participants hurled a pole through a University Avenue storefront window, overturned a large metal trash container and spray painted a swastika on City Hall.
Clearing the downtown area is a pre-emptive action on the part of the police department, which is expecting 800 to 1,000 protesters, said Police Chief Lynne Johnson. Street notices will be posted 72 hours before the protest, which is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., said Johnson.

The department has not yet finalized which streets will be marked for clearing. Vehicle owners will be responsible for any tow company charges.

The fee suspension does not provide any added costs for the city, and it is not the only preventative measure.
The police department has requested additional manpower from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and the Mountain View, San Jose, Los Altos and Sunnyvale police departments. Mounted police officers may patrol the streets as well, said council member Bern Beecham.

"People have the right to assemble and the right to protest," he said. "We want to assure that those rights are respected. We also want to assure that if anything should get out of hand, we are prepared to respond appropriately."

Beecham said the city would ordinarily coordinate with groups planning protests or marches, but it has not been able to communicate with a contact person from Anarchist Action.

The Revolutionary March Against the War - as the group calls the event on its Web site, http://www.anarchistaction.org - is intended to speak out against the war in Iraq, President Bush, the "corporate empire" and capitalsm, according to the Web site.
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Comment by anti-war activist, Carol Brouillet-

"I didn't hear of the first Anarchist event, but it is unfortunate that the reporter said that it turned "violent" when some vandalism ocurred. I consider the greatest threat to the anti-war movement is when the police turn "violent" against the protesters and start hurting people; and it is better not to give the police a reason to exercise violence against people exercising their right to free speech. That right is threatened, if "agent provacteurs" instigate property damage and give the police a reason to attack people. Those of us who have been protesting war, peacefully, for years (and have managed to win over the vast majority of Americans to oppose war- which is why recruitment is down and the tide is turning against the Bush Regime), are concerned that this event Saturday could be manipulated to give the Palo Alto Police Department an excuse to get "tasers" and make it harder for those of us who are in the streets regularly to "protest" and "do public outreach." I have a "Listening Project" in downtown Palo Alto, every week, that I've been doing since October 2001, and I don't want to lose my free speech rights. Most of the peace groups are unaware of this "anti-war rally/march," those of us who are 'anti-war' should at least come to be legal observers, film what happens, and not let the event be used for the benefit of those who wish to increase the powers of the "Police State" that is being constructed.

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