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1.  

   Witnessed it myself

   

   dorpus, Mar 25th, 2003 @ 9:34am

   
   

   I was at the antiwar rally in SF two weeks ago and tailed the Black Bloc anarchists. They had cell phones and walkie talkies. The SF police has decades of experience handling protestors, so they know how to avoid looking bad on camera -- they'd arrest only one or two protestors at a time, avoiding use of batons or tear gas.
   
   I watched a fascinating choreography of riot police squads split up into 3 or 4 groups and converge on Black Block mobs. The cops knew how to come around a corner to surprise the mob. The mob would panic and disperse, then re-materialize on another street corner. The dance went on for hours, travelling right through the tourist district of SF. It was a somewhat anti-climactic affair. Both sides were locked in a kind of moving stalemate.
   
   

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2.  

   And in Tokyo...

   

   dorpus, Mar 25th, 2003 @ 9:50am

   
   

   When I went to a bar tonight, an American who works for "Peace Boat" walked in -- some sort of leftist organization that hosts boat cruises to promote intercultural exchanges. (I laughed out loud when he told me that, which almost led to a fight.) I overheard leftists here saying that the cops are employing the reverse technology, where plainclothes officers blend into a mob and snatch away known troublemakers at the first sign of trouble.
   
   
   

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