This photo is of French, at ‘Romneyville’ in Tampa, Florida, so named as the main base for protests during the 2012 Republican National Convention. French talked with me about his experience at NATO protests in Chicago a few weeks prior.
“There were several night marches but calm people at the front innovated solutions,” he said. “Most arrests were at the day marches. We had a dance party at a night march and shut down a major intersection in front of a museum where NATO delegates were eating.”
He said they danced for three hours, as police seemed unable to control protesters.
“During a day march, the cops showed us they had sound canons. They weren’t used. They just displayed them. But people panicked and a lot of them left and police started hitting people. People who remained were really calm.”
I asked French to say more via Facebook a few weeks after talking with him in Tampa.
“ Staying calm does allow for an increase in safety, just having your wits about you can help you avoid or reduce the severity of injuries caused by police. Some who remained calm did get injured, mostly from helping others who had been injured.”
French said he had planned on going to Colorado and living in the Santa Fe National Forest and spending winters in Arizona, migrating by hitch-hiking. But his cousin urged him to get involved with Occupy Wall Street.
“My mom said, ‘I’d rather you do that than go live in the woods.’”
French said when he gets into a town he’s not familiar with he gets advice from homeless folk about where to go for food, shelter, showers, and other things.
“In Orange City, Florida, they’ve made panhandling illegal. It shouldn’t be criminal to ask for help. Concern about homelessness has spread especially because of Occupy. In Denver, 90 percent of the people who were there everyday were homeless. An urban camping ban happened, accelerated by Occupy.”
French said the protest occupations drew more attention to the problem of homelessness in the US. He said many of the laws that can make life more difficult for homeless folk have existed in some form throughout the country for some time, but have spread to many cities.
French said the calmness came from mental preparation and life experience. He said that is important for staying focused on the goals of the protest.
“We were there to cause a disruption to prove the people have the power.” He and other protesters did that, up to a point.
“It was a shit show at some of the night marches, but calm people at the front innovated solutions. We had a dance party that shut down a major intersection in front of a museum where delegates wives were eating.”
“We danced for 3 hours and it went on and on. We didn’t panic. During the day marches, cops announced they were going to make arrests and they let us know they had sound cannons, even though they didn’t use them. But people panicked and a lot of them left, and police started hitting people. But the people who remained were very calm.”
“The tactics we used slowed the police’s ability to respond. Blocking the sidewalks as well as the street made the cops have to circle around every block to try to get ahead of us.”
He said staying calm increases safety.
“Just having your wits about you can help you avoid or reduce the severity of injuries caused by police. Some who remained calm did get injured, mostly from helping others who had been injured.”
“We were able to improvise our moves, but the police had to wait for orders. It was more than communication that allowed us to carry on the march for hours on end, the tactics we used slowed the polices ability to respond. Blocking the sidewalks as well as the street made the cops have to circle around every block to try to get ahead of us. ”
[[[This is interesting because I would have assumed police had an advantage because of their radios. Not sure how dozens or hundreds of protesters could have been able to coordinate their moves without radios.]]]
“In Denver, 90 percent of the people who were there every day were homeless. An urban camping ban happened. It was accelerated by Occupy. in my opinion occupy’s in the US did draw more attention to
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