A Tale of Two Posters

Under the shadow of events in Portland, everyone could see where protests were headed towards, but with the swell of support from mothers, fathers, and veterans who saw a problem with Federal authorities threatening civilians’ rights to peacefully assemble, we thought we could overt conflict, but it always comes to us in the end, whether people asked for it or not.

It was a hot afternoon on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, the air was heavy, thick like I was weighted down by it. A large protest had formed on the street in front of City Hall. 3 different protests were forming, each with their objectives and led by different organizers. The first was a Car Caravan to Stop Evictions organized by @psl_losangeles, they had arrived earlier and family members’ of missing brothers and sisters were pleading for information and help. Their protest march began North on Spring.

One of the organizers for the second group of peaceful protesters organized by many familiar faces that I’ve met in the streets of downtown LA, that have been doing peaceful protests since long before George Floyd, began to address the crowd, while I searched for my group within it.

I was excited to hear of veterans groups forming to stand in solidarity with peaceful protesters, protecting their constitutional rights. They were inspired by Navy veteran Chris David after he asked Federal troops if they remembered their oath to the Constitution and they repeatedly hit him with their batons and sprayed him with pepper spray, unwavering against hostile aggression, he walked away. In Portland, amongst the hell, veterans stood at parade-rest, courageous in their values that a domestic threat to the Constitution was upon us. No 4th Amendment and the 1st constantly being attacked by federal thugs.

A chapter of #WallOfVets was created for almost every major city expecting some sort of aggressive presence by unwanted authorities. Los Angeles was no different and upon that realization, I reached out to the organizer. I suggested we have a rallying point to meet since no one knew each other, he refused. So when I started searching for anyone else that heard the call to join, it was incredibly hard. One female veteran had a sign, so I asked her if she knew anyone else here, and the same problem persisted. I sought out others and returned empty-handed to find another veteran standing with her. He was looking for the organizer too, even reaching out to him through the DMs I was getting little to no response. The organizer was posting on social media pictures of the protest, but not actually organizing the purpose for us being there. When the peaceful protesters started marching, I told the other two veterans, “I came here to protect the peaceful march, I’m not waiting for this guy.” Both veterans followed, knowing that was why they were there too. As the march started, there was a clear divide amongst those marching.

On one side of the street with the loud-speaker truck, were the peaceful protesters, calling for justice, calling for equality. And on the other side of the street marching alongside them were the 3rd group of protesters, carrying banners of black, wearing black scarves and clothing, red bandanas and black flags, these were the anti-fascist protesters, marching for solidarity with Portland against authoritarianism.

They had no leader because ideology can not be held by just one person, they’re decentralized and have no speaker or orator to speak on their behalf. They marched, very peacefully for quite a while, but they were more aggressive every time we paused somewhere in the city. I can’t speak to what their intentions were, I wasn’t there for them, I was there to protect peaceful protesters, but so often do messages get co-opted by anger.

We began marching South on Spring St and turned East on 2nd only to curve right behind the LAPD headquarters and stop right at their front door. People started knocking on the glass doors and walls. Nothing was being destroyed as the Veteran 3, I will call us, watched from ontop a bench to assess the situation. We chanted the names of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Robert Fuller and so many others who lost their lives to police murder, and then the march continued. No violence occurred and the Veteran 3 got back out and marched in front of the peaceful protest, a mini-WallOfVets.

We marched North on Los Angeles St and turned East on Temple St. where 2 federal buildings on the Northside were located. We kept marching at a pretty good pace, still incredibly peaceful, chanting the whole time. Cursing at federal authorities, flipping them off as we walked by. We turned left, Northbound on Alameda, and stopped outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. There we could see inmates tapping on the glass of their small window enclosures, they were tapping in unison, from the 3rd floor to the 9th. It was louder than the organizers’ chants and everyone around raised a fist in solidarity to those oppressed by a system of inequality.

We continued marching East on Commercial St. Where we had our first encounter with police officers. This was a tame meeting, they were blocking the march from getting on the S. 101 Freeway and tensions started to fray. Some organizers pushed hard to march on the 101, and some protesters got in the face of police officers, us Veterans’ 3, just did what we came to do, we stood in front of the police, we didn’t provoke, we stood there in defense of protesters.

The march started again and continued on Commercial St, under the 101 bridge at Center St. and banked around to the N. 101 Freeway entrance. I ran to the current speaker of the march and told him we had left a lot of stragglers behind at the last freeway entrance, we slowed down so that people could catch up and marched in unison on N. 101 until the Spring St. on-ramp. It was just 2 veterans’ at the front now, we lost our female vet at the first freeway entrance. Along the walk, motorists on the opposite side honked their car horns in support of the march. It was really peaceful and filled the crowd with jovial hope. We were always worried about getting kettled, which tends to happen when we aren’t paying attention to our surroundings. At that point, it was less of a concern because police were actually doing their jobs, they were blocking traffic, keeping people safe, they didn’t oppose the march, there was no point really to do so, but it didn’t last. Violence tends to always happen.

We headed South on Spring St., turned West on Temple and turned South again on Broadway. I could hear the current organizer point out the next building we would be assembling at, the Federal Courthouse. We marched up the side steps to the front of the building and inside I could see the Department of Homeland Security agents inside the lobby. Some were wearing riot gear and tactical shields. The crowd seeing this started banging on the glass walls and doors. The agents inside were visibly agitated and tried to record people’s identities, I turned my back and attempted to put my gas mask on, worried that it may escalate further, but it was too late, the shield carrier in the lobby, opened the glass doors just enough to toss out CS canisters into the crowd.

They were startled, dispersed suddenly only to respond with throwing rocks at the windows. The other veteran to my right said to me “I didn’t come here for this” and left the area. Apparently, the mysterious veteran organizer that I never saw once in that entire protest, was posting on Facebook instead of communicating directly to us, that he advised everyone to leave the area. I backed away from being directly in front of the glass wall as more Black Flaggers on my left flank threw gravel and anything they could get their hands-on at the building. A line of LAPD rushed to the front entrance and I put my hands up and attempted to keep those behind me safe from harm. But those on my left-flank, dressed in black garb, continued to agitate and stoak responses from the police in front. This was only going to get worse.

I could hear people behind me, spouting anger towards the police line, but I just stood there with arms wide, trying to keep both lines separate as to avoid any harm to each. Little did I know the consequences that were happening to people off to my left, where protesters were being beaten by police on the ground, viciously. Tina-Desiree Berg, a reporter from Status Coup was able to capture footage of the extreme nature dealt out to protesters by the hands of overzealous police forces.

Black Flag was not letting up, and even though the main protest finally started to move on, I could see the aftermath of what just transpired. Windows shattered, debris on the pavement and streets, cries of anger and pain from dismayed organizers, it was heartbreaking. I waved away anyone that was left and encouraged them to join the protest, to leave this area and continue marching as people were being arrested. From the intersection of 1st and Hill St. looking North, I could see the larger protest all the way at the end of Temple and knew I wouldn’t catch up, so I took a minute to breathe, get some water in Grand Park and prepare for whatever may come next. Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, or committed anything that could be levied as a crime, I was being watched by a drone. All by myself, just getting some water, apparently, I seem to look like a threat to police even though I hadn’t done anything. I flipped it off while covering my face and it eventually left me alone.

I walked back to the city hall where some of the organizers that quarreled with the police in front of the courthouse were trying to figure out the various issues that were happening all at once and what went wrong. They all knew that Black Flag was causing more problems than they needed. They knew of a dozen protesters that needed legal assistance for being arrested and the hospitalization of some other protesters that were severely injured. They knew the march was under threat by an overwhelming reinforcement of police headed towards them as they were protesting the ICE detention facility. I asked them if I could help in any way, and they simply told me to hold the area down as they try to direct the march back here.

There was an emphatic presence of force all around, they weren’t in front of the City hall yet, but multiple helicopters in the sky at once, none were media from what I could tell. Drones hovering at points of entry, cruisers speeding down roads towards the marchers. It was a completely different feel than when the march started. As if the March of the Empire theme was playing over us all. Tina-Desiree Berg checked in with me, I had invited her to the protest to cover it and she said DHS kicked the entire press out of the courthouse area and off N. Broadway. I met with her and her cameraman Jason at the south intersection. They were wearing their press vests and I was very happy to walk with them back to City Hall. Unlike bloggers or social media writers, they were allies. They were there to capture the disgusting display of unconstitutional aggression on behalf of the federal forces that were invading our cities and report facts, not sensationalism.

As we walked back to City Hall, we could see the large protest marching South towards us. Black Flag was still with the main protest group, but it was clear something more had happened at the ICE detention facility that I didn’t see for myself. What was surprising, was that Black Flag was abandoning them too, they marched West through Grand Park while the peaceful protesters stayed at City Hall and tried to regroup. Black Flag took a lot of those protesters with them. I don’t know what may have happened to that group, it wasn’t why I came in the first place, all I can report on was the response to those that stayed behind and didn’t ask for the kind of response that was about to happen.

A black woman, Bri, who was one of the most passionate voices speaking throughout the day, called upon the people to stand. I could see clearly the mounted force preparing to assault people. I stood out in front of a line of police cruisers slowing driving closer and closer towards the crowd. I kneeled down in front of them with my hands up. (See me in Army pants in the video above) They blasted their sirens continuously until my left ear was ringing, I was already partially deaf in my right and I stayed there, kind of meditating past that noise, past the strobe lights that were being directed into my eyes, just find my little center away from this. I would be directed by Bri to step back once and a while, as she was trying to form a cohesive line of people.

The officers finally left their vehicles and were reinforced by Federal Agents lined up against many of us. The one who had the pleasure of standing against me and probably didn’t expect to be facing someone not willing to bend so easily to their will, yelled at me to step back, I said: “I’m not armed, I’m standing in solidarity for Constitutional rights!” His response was to spear me with his big stick. It stung, but I didn’t move and dared him to try that again. When he attempted to, I grabbed his stick and forced it back at him. He wound up as if to hit me with a home run, I was begging him to do it, “go ahead and hit me you weakling, you need force and violence to make yourself feel like a man, go on!” His superior officer stopped him short but I didn’t stop making him look completely weak and pathetic. This Fed had an interesting badge on his chest. A clear graduate of Dave Grossman “Warrior Cop” training, that makes no distinction between an enemy combatant on a field of war and a citizen on the streets.

I returned to the formed line of protesters and linked arms with the few that were still there. Agitation and anger were still formulating in excess towards the line of Feds as Bri desperately called on people to listen to her, to stop feeding into the anger that they felt, to not engage in hostile actions towards the police, because it doesn’t serve their purpose. Peaceful protest against injustice and for fundamental change was their goal. Though she didn’t call the Black Flaggers out by name, it was clear she was referring to the co-opted message created by them and their abandonment of the march.

I stepped back to assist in the perimeter check around the area, making sure we wouldn’t be kettled so easily. When I returned, the small group of protesters that were being led by the peaceful group had largely disappeared. The line of police and feds remained at both ends of the street, but I couldn’t understand what happened since I followed through with the reconnaissance. I met up with Tina and Jason from Status Coup and helped walk them out of the contained zone back to their car, then offering to take me home. That was the end of my night of protest for July 25th.

I want to clarify my stance when it comes to Black Flag or anti-fascist groups. I am an ally to that cause, I believe in it, I even espouse it on my profile.

Which taken literally would be attacking the courthouse in response to Federal Gestapo occupying it. But what I take issue with, is the co-opting of a non-violent message by one group over another that definitely was looking for a fight, and then abandoning that first group to the very “bear” you’ve decided to poke.

So my message to decentralized anti-fascist groups that come out in support of #BLM or other peaceful protest marchers, keep it peaceful, respond non-violently to the machine because you harm the message that peaceful protesters are trying to convey. If you want to march against an occupying force that imposes authoritarian fascism, your entire group needs to understand what that entails, the risks that come with it, and the very real consequences to your life and freedom. I would stand alongside you in that fight, but there wasn’t enough of you alone to fight back effectively, and using peaceful protesters as cover, doesn’t make any allies to your cause. Grow your numbers, be clear in your objective, don’t co-opt other marches, and for fuck sakes, don’t abandon people. I will continue to stand against this oligarchy in any shape and form that I can, we just need a uniting message, clear purpose, and courage.