Thursday, May 5, 2022

People Push Back Against LAPD and DHS Attempts to Smash Pro-Choice Protest

This article is based on independent analysis of protest footage and information provided by witnesses, written by an anonymous third party.

The May 2nd revelation regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, had the immediate effect of galvanizing leftists and pro-abortion activists nationwide, in a mobilization that hasn’t been seen since the George Floyd rebellion. While not matching the scale of that uprising, the response was still notably massive, and protests in cities nationwide went on throughout the entirety of the next day, May 3rd.

Here on Tongva land in so-called “Los Angeles,” actions turned into street confrontations with fascist LAPD officers and federal DHS police. At approximately 8:40 PM or so, a confrontation started between autonomous protestors seeking to take the intersection and march to city hall while encouraging those from an adjacent protest to join, and cops in an undercover van, who were attempting to drive through and force the protestors to move.

As the confrontation grew in scale, officers exited the vehicles and began shoving and hit protesters with their batons. DHS police quickly entered the scene, driving their cars into the crowd twice in an attempt to scare protestors away.

This confrontation drew bodies away from the previous protest (a peaceful demonstration led by PSL) and to the scene of the confrontation in order to stand with and assist protestors trying to take the street, and demanding that the pushing, shoving cops move back.

Cops continued to escalate the situation, beating, shoving, and threatening several protestors, while continuing to try and force their way through the crowd. This eventually escalated into a situation where protestors were moving up Hill Street as cops continued pushing and beating them.

Two de-arrests took place as LAPD officers attacked protestors on Hill St, but were quickly surrounded and forced to give up their arrestees. Protestors then began calling for the crowd to continue up hill to avoid an attempt at a kettle by cops. LAPD would attempt to kettle protestors two more times that night, both cases showing the LA bloc’s familiarity with the concept and ability to outmaneuver these attempts through continuous unpredictable movement and strategic positioning.

In 2021, LA protestors first showcased the ability to escape a kettle, approaching the edges of the police line with shields and forcing the police to back up, thus creating space for the crowd to escape and filter out. This time, such measures were rendered unnecessary by quick and strategic movement.

After escaping Hill Street, protestors marched to city hall and held the intersection, before moving out again to avoid a kettle, and circling back to city hall, leaving behind messages and art, and allegedly damaging an abandoned cop car. The night ended with small but inconsequential confrontations with fascist anti-abortion counter protestors, but they were quickly driven away, and the crowd dispersed, avoiding another kettle.

The night ended with a few mostly minor injuries, and only a single arrest. The success of the night shows both the common civilians’ casual anti-cop stance and willingness to participate in serious action with vigor, as well as our ability to outmaneuver police, quickly adjust to complex situations, and protect our comrades from repression. Power and solidarity to the peoples of Los Angeles!

Sources:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473

https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1521696883827118081?s=20&t=JOnm9TiOJgke3gTdY8_6SA

https://twitter.com/PplsCityCouncil/status/1521702215118770176?s=20&t=JOnm9TiOJgke3gTdY8_6SA

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-03/downtown-los-angeles-roe-wade-protest

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10780835/DHS-agent-shoves-pro-abortion-protesters-thousands-streets.html


by Anonymous Contributor via It's Going Down
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