When Anarchists Attack!

You can find my video of an attack by anarchists on the Protest Warriors at Sunday's march in New York City. You can find the the video by clicking here (5.3MB, 2MB, and 700KB Windows Media or 20MB MPEG), here (20MB MPEG), or here (20MB MPEG). Enjoy.

Update (9/2/04): According to my site meter, it looks like over 14,000 people have checked out this video. I particurlarly thank Jason, Mark, and OverTaken By Events for helping to share the experience of some of the PWers in NYC on Sunday. To my fellow conservatives, please continue to speak up. You can see what we are up against, and it's not pretty. I invite everyone to do something. Make a contribution, write a letter to the editor, or simply put a bumper sticker on your car. Everyone can help and every bit of effort, no matter how small, is needed.

Update: As my bandwidth limit has been blown past, please try one of the links listed below. These are MPEG files, so they should play on pretty much any system, though they are larger than the orginal, jerky, Windows Media files. The video is not work safe (course language). so watch it at your own risk.

Mirror 1: Thanks to Jason of jasonn.com and Political Brief for agreeing to host an MPEG version of the file. Click here to open a page where you can download this version.
Mirror 2: Click here for another mirror. Thanks to Mark for helping us out!
Mirror 3: Thanks to Overtaken by Events for agreeing to host the file. Click here for the post on his blog where you can download the file. Update: Jason now has posted smaller Windows Media versions of the file (5.3MB, 2MB, and 700KB).

Update: Want to help Protest Warrior in their fight against the left? Then please visit the Protest Warrior Web site and make a donation. We are determined to show the hypocrisy of the left, and you can help. If you want to "Slop the Pig", please support this site by using clicking on the PayPal link on the left and send in your donation to writetothepig@hotmail.com

Also, be sure to visit the site of our associated group, Communist for Kerry. Warning - Sense of humor required!

Funny, but these were pretty much the only "Pro-Kerry" signs I saw all day.

Update: I have modified the orginal post a couple of times to reflect the location of the video files.

Comments

[Daoud]

This event and the discussion following it were, to me, the purest slice of America I have ever tasted:
"I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I??!!"
"I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I??!!"
"I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I??!!"
"I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I??!!"
[repeat ad nauseum]

[Tim Murphy]

Protest Warriors, you are one gutsy group. Kudos to you all, it's your kind of courage and intelligence that will help turn the tide by exposing the hypocrisies of the left.

[Steve in San Diego]

This is just further demonstration of the fact that the Democratic party is moving further and further from centrist thinking. This is the new face of the Dems these days, and it has nothing to do with (and wants nothing to do with) accomodating others' opinions. Dissent is only okay with them if it is dissent in favor of their liberal causes.

I was on the John Kerry forums a while back and they won't even let you post there if you mildly question anything in the Kerry platform - it's amazing. Try it here:

http://forum.johnkerry.com/

If you start to bring up anything like "winter soldier" or his record in the senate, they will ban you from posting.

great blogging!
selectedpete
http://selectedpete.blogspot.com/

[VerukaSalt]

I watch these lunatic protesters and all I can say is. The rest of the country is watching too and its these undecided voters that are the swing vote in alot of battleground states, looking at these moonbats and not liking what they see... good for us.. good for Bush.. Good for America.

[CFK Girl]

She's hot :P

[Christian]

In the interests of fairness I will state that after we were assaulted in NYC and regrouping on a side street a few protesters left the march to tell us how disgusted they were at what had occured. Not only that but one of their marchers joined us for the rest of the day. In my opinion the people that seem to assault me at every event are a minority in the marchs, but the rest of the protesters do tend to egg them on and encourage the violence. I have never seen even one of them try to stop the violence from happening or get upset with the marchers doing the assaults until it is all over.

[Ultra-Blue]

The anarchist platform:"You are a fascist! Now let me tear down your sign and prevent you from expressing your right to free speech only because your views are different from mine!"

H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-C-Y!!

[BloodSpite]

Linked this.

Way to go guys. You have my support whole heartedly.

Truly, you have the Right Stuff!

[Retief]

You twit. I watched the clip. The altercation clearly started when your "anarchist" got whacked with a sign and took exception. Broke the sign that hit him and threw a punch. Didn't start it and didn't follow up. Is that really the best you can do? Believe me, if these dilletantes had been attacked by anarchists, they'd know it. Were you just hoping nobody'd bother to click through?

[Blind Pig]

Actually, the first guy attacked was a pretty muscular United States Marine. Needless to say, if he were not diciplined and determined to be peaceful, skinny bearned dude would have been in serious trouble. No bragging - just reality.

How did we know they were anarchists? Simple - the smell.

[Finn]

I find it interesting, and this is not a personal attack on anyone, just interesting that we are willing to ream the political left (Democrats, etc.) and vilify them as fascists because of their bumpkin, intolerant protesters (not the party, but their protesters), but seem perfectly ready to turn a blind eye to certain other fascist tendencies of our current Presidency. I appreciate all that you are doing in order to encourage equal coverage, etc. but I would think that a more constructive use of time would be pursuing dialogue (I know it's hard, seeing is how the Kerry website is such a pain in the ass) instead of blogging rhetoric about how "skinny bearded dude would have been in serious trouble" etc.

[progressives will stop you]

As I look into the see of white GOP faces and know they have white KKK hoods at home i can only think thus: The US is fucking police state without free health care and i am supposed to give a shit avbout 3000 rich people who got smoked by people who had a legitimate cause against US imperialism? the same country that destroys democracy and crushes poor people?

bo fucking hoo about 9-11. here is me shedding a single tear.

bush has go to go. by any means necessary. amd that is my patriotic, democratic opinion.

[Blind Pig]

Exhibit A on why I am not a Democrat: The treatment of Zell Miller by many Democrats in my home state of Georgia.

Exhibit B: The previous post.

[actus]

"progressives will stop you |"

Go home Karl Rove.

[finn]

Ummm, please in no way connect me with that ass-clown who just ranted about "3000 rich people who got smoked" just because I question the republican party line, i.e. homeland security. Yes, I do question some of the steps, tendencies of the current administration post-9/11, but that does not mean that I have NO FUCKING EMPATHY!!! Are you kidding me? The only gripe that Al Qaeda had against the US was that Saudi Arabia didn't support a Mujaheddin/Taliban liberation force into Kuwait in 1991, and backed the US instead. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IMPERIALISM!!!

[Cybrludite]

"You twit. I watched the clip. The altercation clearly started when your "anarchist" got whacked with a sign and took exception. Broke the sign that hit him and threw a punch. Didn't start it and didn't follow up. Is that really the best you can do? Believe me, if these dilletantes had been attacked by anarchists, they'd know it. Were you just hoping nobody'd bother to click through?"

You watch the same clip that I did? The bearded guy was up in the sign-toter's face. There was no room for him to swing the sign. At any rate, the PWs' signs appear to have been mounted on cardboard tubes, like what wrapping paper comes on. As a veteran of many X-mas morning cardboard tube swordfights, I can tell you that they don't hold up to being used as a truncheon. (I usually fought Florintine, with a paper towel tube for a main gauche...)

[Retief]

Cybrludite, Yes those were the days, but when all the carboard tubes were gone we liked to use rolled up newspapers. You have to be a little more careful with them.

Here's what I saw a tallish bearded guy with a black cap yelling at the redshirted shaven headed guy to get out of the march if he (et al) was such a Bush fan. And getting into a face to face confrontation. (Which was the point of these guys being here, wasn't it?) While they are face to face, the little green shirted guy made a grab for red shirted guy's sign and one of RSG's friends grabed GreenSG head and knocked him down. Followed by some shots of Reasonable Guy telling the RSG(?) that he was being a child. After that some chanting of Bullshit, again a fairly reasonable response. Then after the shot of the older guy with the elephant with a target placard, we see the large blackshirted guy with a black bandana on his head at teh front of teh space between the two groups yelling towards someone just to the right of the camera. At this point On of the RSG's friends signs hits BlackSG across the chest. It could easily have been acidental, but it comes from his side and clearly surprises him. He not unreasonably knocks down the sign and the sign wielder (a little guy in a white shirt and black backpack who's busy getting in a little slapfight with another guy in a green shirt who may have been the one to pull his sign and make it hit BlackSG.) After BlackSG moves closer to the camera someone wearing a grayish backpack who is mostly off camera runs from among RedSG's friends into BlackSG trying to tackle him with remarkably little success. Black shirt guy pounds this attacker on the back twice before RedSG's friends pull him back into the crowd and those on both sides who realize that starting the violence isn't what will help their respective causes tell those on both sides who've failed to realize that to stop, stop, stop. Then we have shots of long haired guy on the RedSG's friends side, holding up his broken sign and talking to one of the apparently ten thousand cameras that were here, when BlackSG, seemingly unsatisfied with the conclusion of the last altercation pulls down LongHairGuy's sign whereupon they yell you don't believe in free speech at each other.

Like I said, if they'd been attacked by anarchists, they'd know it.

[Angus Jung]

"Like I said, if they'd been attacked by anarchists, they'd know it."

Ooooooh.

[Blind Pig]

Yes, yes. Very scary.

Maybe you are right, though. True anarchists would have probably snuck up from behind and then would have run away.

[finn]

Are there really people out there still touting anarchism? Are you drunk or just 13? Most people realise that anarchy isn't viable about the same time that they stop googling the anarchist's cookbook and having roman candle fights in the backyard with their D&D buddies. Read some basic anthropology books and rent a clue. Stop marginalizing yourself by being a proponent of ideals that bonobo chimpanzees have evolved beyond.

[Blind Pig]

Finn, you make me laugh.

Here is something else: The anarchist seems to be arguing that that particular set of anarchists did not seem to come up to his standards.

How can anarchism have standards?

[actus]

"How can anarchism have standards?"

An anarchist can have standards, just like anyone else. Where do you get the idea that he can't?

[E. Nough]

"The Protest Warriors are asshole provocateurs."

Can't argue with that. They sure did a great job provoking the assholes.

[Aapje]

I've seen riots and real fighting and this is neither. It's just a bit of cussing and pushing, then after what might be an accident someone got really pissed. Perhaps for good reason, a piece of cardboard can still hurt plenty if a sharp end hits you in the neck with some force, so I can see why he might break the sign and give the wielder a little smack. I might do the same if I didn't know it was an accident. Then a guy attacked him when he moved to the right for whatever reason, I can understand him defending himself. Later he tried to grab the sign again, but only the sign, he didn't seem to attack the wielder. After a short while he calmed down and it was peaceful again.

If there are real violent tendencies in the crowd, these things tend to escalate quickly, but it all seems to be limited to a few guys (with violence coming from both sides) and it ends remarkably quick, with some protestors trying to end this and others just staying away from this mess, which is also a sensible thing to do. Few people like to get into the middle of a childish brawl between some immature people.

So what does this prove? That Protest Warriors aren't that peaceful? After all, that one PW would not be slapped if he hadn't attacked first. And why did the PW's go into the protest march anyway? A protest march is a group of people with a similar opinion walking together. If you disagree, you should either hold your own march (very close to this march if you want) or protest from the sides of the march. That will allow you to make your point just as well and people from the crowd who want to debate can exit the march and talk without holding up the crowd. Walking into the march and then trying to at least create a disturbance has got nothing to do with free speech rights IMO. It's immature, provocative and shows disrespect for the free speech of another group. The march is their way of expressing their opinion. Trying to make a mess of that is just as bad as pulling down posters, trying to stop a movie being shown or a book being sold which has an opinion different from yours. Free speech is about putting your poster next to theirs, your movie in the same theater and your book on the same shelf...and holding your own protest march.

[Protest (Warriors?)]

Funny...a group calling themselves the ProtestWarriors gets in a fight, and instead of actually doing battle, calls the police to bail them out. They should change the name of their group to ProtestPussiesForBush. 'Warrior'...HAH!