Thread by @batallonbakunin

Thinking about #inauguration day 2001, when 600 anarchists barreled through a secret service checkpoint; almost invaded the parade route; and raised the black flag at the Navy memorial as Bush's motorcade drove by.

The 600 person strong "Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Bloc" got off to a less than promising start, with most participants being kettled after a brief confrontation outside the Washington Post,

but the day ended with this timeless image, of a black bloc anarchist flying off of the Navy memorial after hoisting a red/blac flag, over a line of riot cops, and into the safety of their comrades.

As the USA Today put it, "George W. Bush's motorcade lurched through the largest inaugural protests since Richard Nixon on Saturday, enduring thousands of protesters who hurled insults, bottles, tomatoes and an egg." Behind him, the Navy memorial flew black and red flags.

Priot to that, and after being liberated by nothing less than a mob of thousands of liberal demonstrators, a smaller but very determined bloc reformed, commandeered materials from a construction site, and headed towards the parade route.

What follows are excerpts from an account of the day, to be released as part of a @PMPressOrg book project, sometime next year.

"We looked around and saw a mob definitely lower on banners and numbers, but composed of mainly affinity groups we knew and trusted. Veterans of Seattle, Washington A16, Philly RNC, Cincinnati TABD, antifa actions, you name it. No more worrying about stragglers or undercovers,

just 200 determined close friends and associates from across the Midwest, Atlantic, and Northeast. Free of our police escort and with the guidance of our trusty scouts, we set off to try to access the parade route."

"We stood there, about a half a block away from the checkpoint, and I remember giving myself a moment to take in the beautiful scenery in front of us and the magnitude of what was about to take place. Here we were, the anarchist youth, not only confident and determined,

but now also equipped with nothing less than a mobile battering ram! In front of us was what I can only call a pretty weakly set up checkpoint, consisting of a metal detector, some metal barricades, and maybe 10 police officers.

To top it all off, the street was on an incline leading down towards the checkpoint. Being the conscientious young people that we are, we even took the time to call out warnings to the bystanders between us and the checkpoint. We moved the front banner out of the way,

and led the battering ram to the front. I’ll never forget the faces of the cops and secret service agents as what was about to happen dawned on them. There is a popular French anarchist saying: “Que la peur change de camp.” It translates roughly to “let fear switch sides.”

As in, let's lose our fear and let the fascists, cops, and the state be afraid of us. And this was pure fear in their eyes. If only they could see the joy and broad smiles under our hoods and masks!
“….5….4….3…2….1….Charge!” And charge we did!

I think the Barricada Collective recap of the day still describes the following scenes best. “Police and secret service scattered for their lives and the metal barricades of the state were toppled by the power and determination of the RAAB

as hundreds of anarchists and revolutionaries, not 30 as the corporate press reported, as well as newly empowered and emboldened reformists, surged past the no longer existent checkpoint.”

Beyond the checkpoint, it was only one short street block or so to the parade route, and it was guarded by one row of metal barricades and maybe a dozen officers. There was no way they could stop us, and the delusions of grandeur about the upcoming headlines

“anarchists force cancellation of Presidential inauguration” were already running wildly through my head. In my defense, confessions later extracted from several friends and comrades reveal I wasn’t alone in my megalomania.

Because we were pretty sure this was the dictionary definition of “protagonist of history,” as opposed to “spectator.”
And had it not been for the Hollywood like appearance of this anecdote’s villain, I suspect we would have barreled straight into the parade route.

Whatever followed is likely to have been memorable. Or tragic. Or most likely both, it’s a fine line. But just as all of his colleagues were scattering, one quick thinking and honestly quite courageous secret service agent came screeching out of the side street with his car,

straight into the trajectory of the bloc’s battering ram. A window shattered on impact, and the side of the car took a thundering hit. But the battering ram had been stopped. The agent sprung out of the car, and then even proceeded to try to arrest individual anarchists who

were flying past the checkpoint. If you are familiar with the genre “early 21st century anarchist riot porn,” you will be familiar with the first of the day’s several heart warming images: An unfortunate black bloc participant, bent over with hands behind his back, facing an

obviously imminent arrest at the hands of the secret service. Directly behind the unsuspecting agent, another courageous friend, holding a huge orange traffic barrel above his head, about to launch it at the agent. Im happy to tell you, both comrades made it away safely."

A full account of the day, from the perspective of several organizers and participants, can be found in "The Black Bloc Papers"
theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-bl…

A likewise excellent recap by @crimethinc of anarchist inauguration day protests, from the 1970s to today:
itsgoingdown.org/whoever-vote-u…

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