Jason C. McLean

We all know that police are repressive at protests, especially at big political ones in the states.

I was at the anti-RNC protest in 2004 covering the theatrical jamming aspect for the Montreal Mirror. Though my gig (and my personal budget) kept me in New York City only long enough to witness the official march and not much else, I did feel a foreboding air when I wandered away from the sanctioned area.

I heard the horror stories (remember the yellow mesh) through the independent press when I got back and heard from friends who were detained by the FBI and Homeland Security for an hour for being curious about a building with no windows. They were released when the powers that be realized they had stopped a couple of actors.

I wasn’t that surprised to hear that the cops were at it once again in St-Paul a few weeks ago at this year’s Republican National Convention. What was different, or at least what seemed different, this time was that they targeted the press.

They started with pre-emptive raids (Iraq, anyone?) on activist film group I-Witness Video and others, continued with the arrest of two Democracy Now! producers as they covered a protest and the show’s host Amy Goodman as she tried to get them out of custody:

They carried on throughout the week with similar incidents, including shutting down a concert by Rage Against the Machine.

All of this makes you wonder why they would go after people who could turn around and make them “famous.” Maybe they think that soon the internet will be back in their hands (“net neutrality my ass”). Maybe they just don’t realize the extent evidence of their negative actions can be spread virally. Maybe they just don’t care what a few million activists or activist sympathizers watching think.

Most likely, though, they do care and all this negative exposure they’re getting is completely intentional and designed to create a chilling effect:

“See, protestors, we don’t care if you’re filming us, ’cause we’re busting the press and anyone who gets in our way, too!” That is why it’s important, now more than ever, to keep filming, keep spreading videos and keep vigilant.

It’s also, I feel, more important than ever, to inject a bit more art into actions. If the protests carry an element that appeals to people that may not be fully aware of the political situation, either by entertaining them or catching their attention, then the subsequent police repression will piss off those people too, especially when they can’t see the video because the cops stopped the filming.

Looking like a bunch of thugs to a mass audience that isn’t necessarily politically aware is the kind of negative PR the cops don’t want to deal with.