update from bloc

2:50 I hook up with the bloc on Mission, between 8 & 9
3:00 Captain Springer gave 3 orders to clear Mission, most people get on the sidewalk
3:04 sheriff van & bus arrives
3:08 sheriffs let people in from south sidewalk, from the east, so i just walk through to witness arrests. 15 people are sitting with arms linked on Mission, surrounded by about 10 cops. cops start arresting.
3:15 sheriffs & cops charge the north sidewalk to get people back, using clubs to push, but not apparently swinging
3:17 officer 947 uses starts tearing at the right ear of an arrestee for no apparent reason. when the arrestee is raised to his feet, officer 473 holds the man's throat from both sides, rubbing the vagal sinuses.
3:20 officer 2124 told me to get back behind the police line
3:22 officer 647 uses a vagal sinus maneuver on an arrestee
3:24 three scream from the 3 remaining protesters in the street. i can't clearly see what's happening, as they are completely surrounded by cops.
3:25 one woman appears to be on her front on the ground, with a cop pulling her hair to lift her head.
3:38 cops stop blocking the street, march away. I hear a Channel 7 reporter refer to the march as “the Black Flags,” which I have to tell her is a musical ensemble from the 80s.
3:40 protesters retake street. walk north on tenth, then many break into a run to 9th & market.
3:43 i hear that a protester was hit by a civilian car, but can get no verification.
3:46 Capt. Springer warns more of unauthorized march. He clearly wants to keep people from getting past 7th Street. I notice that the MUNI buses ahead are all backed up, so I go forward on my bicycle to check out the scene.
3:51, at the other march: I get to SF Center (at 5th & market) just as the march arrives. shoppers are locked out by nervous security guards. The march proceeds by without apparently breaking anything, not even knocking over any newspaper boxes. totally peaceful. still, 100 cops are present for the 500 or so marchers.
3:55 many marchers abruptly sprint south on fourth.
3:59 Three marchers are arrested at 4th and Mission. Cops push them back to Market Street.
4:01 I see another arrested person on 4th near Market, and a bystander tells me he was grabbed from the crowd by a group of cops, though he wasn’t apparently doing anything at the time.
I felt like filing this story, so I left. After riding around a little, I got to the office at 3rd & Market, and found that cops had closed 3rd to cars and were getting read to clear the street and sidewalk.
4:15 I hear a lieutenant (2 bars on the hat) say “Time to start picking them off.”
4:16 A man in black abruptly runs east down Stevenson. A sheriff’s deputy runs after him into the Hearst Parking Garage. Four motorcycle cops go to help. The guy turns tail and evades the motorcycle cops, one of whom rams my bicycle. The Sheriff’s deputy, I see, had dropped his can of pepper spray, as though he was ready to use it.
4:18 about 40 cops in helmets run down Third Street to clear it. I go into my office to file this story.