Anarchists’ Protest Puzzles Long Beach

After a violent May Day clash between police and more than 100 anarchists in Long Beach, a question hangs in the air: Has there been an outbreak of anarchy in Long Beach?

Puzzled authorities have been rushing to explain that, no, their sunny beach city is not a hotbed of 1960s-style anti-capitalist fervor.

Vice Mayor Dan Baker said he is “as puzzled as anyone” about their choice of his city to protest the capitalism.

“We tend to be a fairly moderate and middle-class city,” he said. “Why Long Beach?”

In true anarchist fashion, the people who staged and supported the demonstration Tuesday by up to 150 people, by their count, have little rationale for their choice.

As one protester, who gave her name only as Quinn, put it: “Why Long Beach? Why San Francisco? Why Moscow? Why not Long Beach?”

The downtown demonstration turned violent, with marchers allegedly heaving rocks and police swinging batons. Police arrested 95 people, and officials said they may be charged with conspiracy and assault on police officers, both felonies, and misdemeanor failure to disperse. Arraignments are scheduled for this afternoon.

The marchers described themselves as anarchists belonging to a wide range of groups, which they refused to name, or to no group at all. Booking sheets showed that one was from Long Beach, a few were from Orange County, and most came from Los Angeles County or elsewhere in Southern California.

The arrestees trickled slowly out of the Long Beach jail Wednesday after posting $500 bail apiece. Most were 18 to 25 years old, police said.

As one fresh-faced, neatly dressed young woman emerged from the jail lobby, blinking at the sunlight, her mother swooped quickly to her side and firmly announced, “We have to go. Your father is waiting in the car and he’s late for work.”

The mother, who said she lives in Cypress but would not give her name, was not sympathetic to her daughter’s cause.

“I think they’re just stupid kids. They have nothing better to do,” she said. The woman said she was angry at police because her daughter had tried to leave the demonstration when tensions escalated, but the authorities wouldn’t let her.

“I think a felony offense for a first-time arrest is ridiculous,” she said.

Matt Hart, 27, who described himself as a community organizer, was among a few anarchists waiting on the jail steps to offer support to those being freed.

“The basis of anarchy is not overthrowing the government,” he said. “It’s overthrowing oppression and repression. Government is just one way repression is manifested.”

Capitalism fosters exploitation of workers, classism, sexism, homophobia and other social ills, he said.

Protesters vigorously disputed the police version of events. Officers said they fired rubber bullets and then moved in with billy clubs and handcuffs after several announcements over a bullhorn ordering the marchers to disperse.

Quinn said she saw no projectiles or human waste lobbed by demonstrators, as police claimed, and heard no orders to disperse. “I was about five feet away from the bullhorn and I could not clearly hear the order,” she said.

Police disputed the anarchists’ claim that their goal was a quiet celebration of May Day, also known as International Workers Day.

“The things they brought with them showed they were not here for a peaceful demonstration,” spokeswoman Jana Blair said. Officers confiscated rocks, hammers, a slingshot, bags of ball bearings, pointed sticks and bags of human waste.

City officials were pleased with the way the 200 officers in riot gear handled the protest, which they said resulted in minor injuries to one protester and one officer.

“If the police hadn’t reacted as quickly as they did, it could have been a lot worse,” said Mike Sanders, an aide to Mayor Beverly O’Neill.

One arrestee accused the police of doing some anarchic rule-breaking of their own Wednesday. Daniel Roberts, 21, of Hollywood complained that jail visits from friends and family weren’t allowed, contrary to a list of rules given him with his booking sheet. The document states jail visits are allowed “seven days a week,” but jail officials insisted department policy allows visits only Thursday through Sunday.

Sgt. R.L. Ryan peered at the document and stood firm in refusing to allow visits.

“That [document] is in error,” he said, shrugging.