2000 Democratic National Convention
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The 2000 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party nominated Vice President Al Gore for President and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his Vice President. The convention was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California from August 14 to August 17, 2000.
The convention's keynote speaker was Representative Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee. Other notable speakers included President Bill Clinton, actor Tommy Lee Jones (who was Al Gore's roommate in college) and Senators Christopher Dodd and Ted Kennedy.
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The Protests
Fear Over Protests
In the weeks prior to the event, local media (with aid from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other authorities), created a scare concerning "violent elements" that were expected to attend the protests, with an eye on anarchists. Citing the property destruction that occurred at the 1999 WTO summit in Seattle, Washington, the LAPD and media created a "Black Scare", targeting anarchist individuals and groups, to the point of requesting the public to report "anyone wearing black", especially those carrying backpacks. This was also aided by printed threats made by anonymous members of the "Bring on the Ruckus Society", a group of anarchists from Eugene, Oregon. Several Eugene-based anarchist also appeared on Los Angeles news stations, including "Rottin'" of the Green Anarchy Collective saying "get ready for a battle" (which may or may not have been taken out of context).
The Lakers' Victory Riot
The 1999-2000 NBA season ended up being fortuitous for the Los Angeles Lakers, who were in their inaugural year playing out of the Staples Center. On the night of June 19, 2000, the Lakers beat the visiting Indiana Pacers, winning their first Championship in twelve years. While the game took place inside the arena, it was broadcast for free outside on a large video screen. Thousands had gathered to watch the game on the screen and be in the proximity of the arena.
As soon as the game ended, the crowd quickly turned violent as violent opportunists began attacking property, making bonfires flipping and burning cars (including two parked LAPD squad cars), as well as looting local businesses. All the local media channels covered the riots live on television, where LAPD officers were seen containing the rioters, but taking some time before actively dispersing the crowd. The LAPD was roundly criticized for not taking a harder approach to the rioters. Part of what influenced the LAPD's hands-off approach was the recent Rampart Scandal that had rocked the department and generated much criticism in the news.
Nationally embarrassed by its handling of the Lakers' Victory Riot, the city and the LAPD revised its plan for the 2000 Democratic Convention to take place less than two months later.
The Anarchists' Activities
In addition to the anarchist participation in the protests of the DNC, a group of anarchists, calling themselves the "August Collective", held the North American Anarchist Conference, a three-day conference in the days before the DNC took place. The conference was a convergence of hundreds of anarchists both from North America and abroad, and consisted of workshops, panels, speaking engagements and various other events. The recommended $25 donation granted access to the events for three days, as well as free housing (attendees slept on the floor in the warehouse that hosted the conference) and free meals provided by Food Not Bomb.
Due to the local media and LAPD-induced "Black Scare", the organizers of the event took special security measures during preparations. For instance, attendees of the conference had to "check-in" at a local vegetarian cafe called Luna Tierra Sol to get the address of the conference warehouse (a large orange building next to LA River that usually held "Raves"). The motive behind this decision was fear that if the LAPD knew the location of the conference, they would pressure the owner to cancel the rental of the building, a common scenario for modern radical organizers. In addition to this, the actual location of the building was withheld from everyone except the two August Collective members who secured the space. Despite this, the LAPD reportedly installed a video surveillance system on a nearby lamppost days before the conference, and removed it after the DNC has ended. This leak in security is generally believed to be through law enforcement surveillance, such as wire taps.
Despite fear that the LAPD would raid the conference and shut it down, the conference went ahead as scheduled, and other than undercover surveillance, police presence was kept to a minimum. Among other things, many members and attendees suspected that the police would pressure the fire department to deem the nature of sleeping attendees as a fire hazard. However, nothing came of such suspicions.
The Protest Zone
In order to provide security around the Staples Center, Los Angeles Convention Center (which housed print and radio media), and the large media contingent housed outside in a "Media Village", the LAPD, Los Angeles Fire Department and United States Secret Service designed a large secure zone surrounded by a perimeter fence consisting of K-rail barriers with a 10-foot fence rising up from it. The parking lots adjacent to the Staples Center were designated for the large Media Village (consisting of many trailers and media vehicles for the television press), transportation department vehicles, security checkpoints, as well as "VIP Vehicles" to be parked immediately in front of the Staples Center. As a result of this layout, the perimeter fence remained a city block away from the Staples Center, and placed the proposed space for the expected protestors (known as the "Protest Zone") a substantial distance from the event they were protesting. The proposed layout was diagramed and published by The Los Angeles Times.
Upon viewing the proposed layout, the protestors legally challenged the proposed fence route, winning a court judgement in their favor. As a result, the area for the VIP parking lot was moved elsewhere and the perimeter fence was redrawn to create a rectangular protest zone that stopped only a dozen yards short of the Staples Center entrance. This left only one open side of the protest zone for entrance and exit.
The protestors also won permission to set up a stage in the Protest Zone with sound amplification; and time on the stage was divided into hour-long segments and divided among the many groups wishing to bring up issues outside the convention. The LAPD was given permission take the stage and order the Protest Zone cleared if a civil disturbance was imminent.
Rage Against The Machine Concert
In the months leading up to the August convention, popular cable channel MTV began planning a large, free concert to take place in downtown Los Angeles. As a part of its long running "Choose or Lose" campaign aimed at getting youth out to vote, MTV decided that popular rock group Rage Against the Machine (RATM) would be the ideal marquee band. However, RATM's aggressive political message combined with the title of its most recent album, The Battle of Los Angeles, caused serious concerns from LA city leaders. MTV's applications for staging the concert were denied by the city and the channel eventually gave up its attempts to plan one.
After MTV's attempts failed, a number of protest groups agreed to give their one hour time allotments on the stage in the Protest Zone. RATM was offered prime time slots coinciding with the marquee speaker on the opening night of the convention, then-President Bill Clinton.
The Convention
On August 14, the opening day of the convention, RATM held a protest concert outside Staples Center at the same time as the main speaker of the night, President Bill Clinton. The crowd in the Protest Zone had swelled into thousands. While RATM did not hesitate to play its politically charged songs and make general complaints about their perceived corruption of the political system, the stopped short of inciting protests or violence in the Protest Zone. After they finished their set, the Latin funk band Ozomatli took the stage. However, the transition between bands took a particularly long time, nearly half an hour. During this transition period, members of black bloc and similar groups began to gather at the end of the Protest Zone closest to the Staples Arena, and away from the concert crowd that was gathered the opposite end, closer to the entrance to the zone. Approximately an hour after the concert ended, during the beginning of Ozomatli's set, the protesters at the perimeter fence began to concern the LAPD. Rubber bullets, pepper spray, bottles, rocks, and taunts were exchanged between demonstrators and police. One bare-chested protester managed to make it all the way to the top of the fence without his shirt, all the while being sprayed with pepper spray.
The LAPD, attempting to gain control of the situation, stopped Ozomatli. From the stage, the police ordered the Protest Zone emptied, giving protesters a fifteen minute warning to disperse. Meanwhile, LAPD riot police on horses began lining up on the open side of the Protest Zone in a tight formation (later, protestors who were caught in the resulting melee complained that this formation prevented people from exiting the area as quickly as required). While most of the concert crowd dispersed, the second crowd that had formed on the Staples Center-side of the Protest Zone remained defiantly.
As soon as the 15 minute period ended, the LAPD rushed the Protest Zone with the mounted riot police. The riot police wielded long batons and the remaining protestors very quickly ran out of the Protest Zone and onto bordering Olympic Boulevard. On Olympic, the foot-based riot police used rubber bullets, stun grenades, beanbag guns and a newly developed pepper spray pellets (designed to disperse pepper spray in a small area in lieu of using tear gas) to disperse the crowd. A slow moving street battle developed on Olympic and other streets in downtown as the protestors would remove to move, then the LAPD would form firing lines and fire the aforementioned non-lethal weapons into the crowd.
Complicating matters, as the protest crowd retreated down Olympic, they were met by an advancing, city-approved march in support of homeless rights led by noted Los Angeles homeless activist Ted Hayes. The slow-moving collision slowed the protesters who were retreating and resulting in an entirely new wave of marchers who walked into the volleys of the LAPD. Hayes himself was shot in the chest with a rubber bullet[1]; a color photo of him sprawled on the ground, wearing all white and draped in an American flag, was featured in The Los Angeles Times the following day.
Numerous injuries took place in the melee, including protestors and the press. When one reporter brought up their injury at a press conference, the LAPD created controversy by responding that "Maybe you should have gotten out of the way like you were told." Hundreds of lawsuits were filed. Most were settled out of court.
After the Convention
In November, Al Gore narrowly lost to George W. Bush in the general election having won the popular vote but losing the electoral vote.