[Seattle-editorial] article on why SNOW and Peace Keepers SUCK for main feature

[Laury]

I would like to see this article promoted as an editorial.  It raises 
some important questions -- and shows a consistent pattern of behavior.

-- Laury


On Apr 24, 2004, at 8:10 AM, sheelanagig at juno.com wrote:

> summary -
> It feels like the peace keepers and SNOW see their role as one of
> censorship and control. Protesters shall not be angry. Protesters shall
> not raise their voices. Protesters shall not veer off the police 
> approved
> march route. Protesters shall OBEY!
>
>
> article -
> SNOW Coalition and Peace Keepers in Seattle: The Guardian Angel 
> Syndrome
> By Kirsten Angerberg (www.kirstenanderberg.com)
>
> “I am very upset by this war,” “Could you maybe stop this war?” “War is
> bad, please stop, you guys,” “Peace, please
> ”*  The polite “protests” the
> SNOW Coalition puts on are becoming laughable. One teen asked me why
> protests look like the audience of an old 70’s band reunion. Good
> question.
>
> The idea of the SNOW Coalition was a good one, it seemed. Basically, it
> was suburban home owners, banding together in their own neighborhoods 
> to
> show that even capitalist, heterosexual couples with cars and houses
> oppose the war, not just those radical anarchists and fringe
> elements
> They felt their middle-classness would add legitimacy to the
> anti-war movement, I  believe. But over time, I have come to dread the
> SNOW Coalition (and them, me, I’m sure) and the “Peace Keepers,” as 
> their
> memberships overlap, due to their paternalistic tone which is annoying
> and disrespectful. They remind me of the Guardian Angels, and the way
> they are laughed at, and seen as pompous, self-appointed,
> self-aggrandizing mini-cops.
>
> At the Federal Building on March 22, 2003, one cop quipped some smart
> assed remark about how protesters were idiots, and I turned, looked him
> dead in the eye and said “How do you live with yourself?” He and I were
> staring in each others’ eyes and saying nothing for quite a while, when
> all of a sudden a peace keeper put herself in between me and the cop, 
> so
> all of a sudden her back was to me, and she was literally saying to the
> cop, “Nice weather we are having today officer, isn’t it?” THAT WAS
> WEIRD!
>
> Another odd incident I remember was in March 2003, some white boy, 
> about
> 18 years old, was shadowing me. I asked what he was doing. He said 
> peace
> keepers told him to “keep an eye on” me. I said “Keep an eye on me for
> what?” He did not answer. This kid kept asking me, “are you alright?”
> when I would yell something about a cop breaking a law in front of me, 
> to
> highlight it for the media or public, etc. I kept asking the kid, “are
> you alright?” I am still unclear as to what THAT was all about. We 
> still
> get a laugh off that line in my house
> someone will do something,
> anything, and one of us will say “are you alright?” It is annoying in 
> NO
> time.
>
> Then there is that weird Mar 22 , 2003 protest event, that was hosted 
> by
> Not In Our Name, a more radical anti-war element than SNOW. It was the
> first week of the war. Some SNOW members publicly told people to stay
> away from protests that day. Then police rioted on hundreds of unarmed
> people (myself and son included) on First Avenue. When I finally got
> myself and my kid out of the containment/riot area, I got to the plaza
> above and there were SNOW members and peace keepers doing NOTHING 
> VISIBLE
> OR EFFECTIVE TO STOP THE RIOT A BLOCK AWAY. The peace keepers said “we
> know it is happening, geez, it sounds bad down there.” I began to not
> like SNOW and peace keepers over time.
>
> It feels like the peace keepers and SNOW see their role as one of
> censorship and control. Protesters shall not be angry. Protesters shall
> not raise their voices. Protesters shall not veer off the police 
> approved
> march route. Protesters shall obey all orders from police. Protesters
> shall stay silent about police abuse. Protesters shall damage no
> property. Protesters shall not really PROTEST
> Protesters shall be polite
> on a dog’s leash, with SNOW and peace keepers holding the chains, with
> our lips attached to cops’ asses at all times. Apparently, from my
> experience, protesters shall not look into the eyes of a cop
> or else they
> will be forced to intervene
> to protect
> THE COP? OR ME? Good question.
>
> As time goes on, I have come to view SNOW and the peace keepers as
> mini-cops. They try to play patsy (against the will of many of us)
> between cops and protesters. Cops say do not block traffic, protesters
> start to block traffic, and all of a sudden peace keepers intervene
> instructing everyone not to block traffic. They seem a police dream 
> team,
> really. The cops using a protester element, to boss protesters around, 
> is
> brilliant, if protesters are dumb enough to go for it.
>
> The final straw for me came on 4/23/04. I showed up at the really lame
> “protest” at Westlake against Caterpillar bulldozers being used as
> weapons of murder in Israel, and tried to take pictures of the 4 bike
> cops against the wall watching us. And 3 of the cops sped away on their
> bikes as if a camera was like the light of day to a vampire. Officer
> Larame broke the law right there, and I announced it loudly to 
> everyone.
> All of a sudden, some 50-something guy with a long ponytail and 
> anti-war
> buttons on, came up to me saying I was just trying to cause trouble and
> calling me an “instigator.” Yes. It is true. I am an instigator of 
> police
> accountability. Shame on me. I guess I am an instigational reporter.
>
> I looked around at the “protest” of middle-class white people mostly
> older than me, paternalistically telling me how to think and act and
> wondered why I should give a shit what they think. They do not care 
> about
> supporting direct action. They do not support police accountability for
> all constructive purposes. They do not support anarchists, or radicals,
> or even just “angry” people, is the way it appears. And, um, I think 
> this
> war crap is valid stuff of anger, sorry. Just saying “war is bad, now
> stop you guys” is NOT WORKING. THE WAR RAGES ON, DRAGGING MORE INTO ITS
> BLACK HOLE DAILY.
>
> Most of my friends started out supporting the SNOW Coalition and the
> peace keepers. Most of my friends have now left the SNOW Coalition due 
> to
> its exclusionist tactics and police ass-kissing, to be blunt.
> Paternalistic enforcement of “polite protest” is getting obnoxious as
> this war rages on. The question has become – WHO ARE SNOW AND THE PEACE
> KEEPERS PROTECTING? POLICE OR PROTESTERS? IT IS NOT CLEAR.
>
> *(I got these “slogans” from a cartoon at www.theaword.net)
>
>
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