Open letter re: strategy on break-away/Black Bloc marches

I meant to write this after the March 15 break-away march, but didn't do so, mostly because i didn't want to sound like Old Man Anarchy schooling the kidz, and also because i thought some lessons would have been learned. however, after participating in the Black Bloc for the brief time it lasted before getting busted on March 20, i felt compelled to write this.

first off, i've been a part of mass street actions in SF since the mid-90s, and have been arrested in a few of them, sometimes by choice and sometimes from getting rounded up. i've spent a bunch of time analyzing how the cops operate in these situations, and talked to many others with experience about it as well.

i was very impressed with the organization of the Anti-War Action folks during the break-away march on January 15, it was well-done and street smart and very inspiring. the organizers who were making calls on which way to turn, when to sprint or slow down, and what targets to visit did a great job.

i missed feb. 15, but was there on march 15. first of all, it was really hard to find, the info was not posted well at all, though perhaps there was a security reason for not announcing where it was going to start. early on, the break-away went off market down to mission, which was a mistake. the cops really love to trap people on that side of market, both because of street logistics and because it's much more out of sight than market or the other side of market (i.e., towards the north or west). later in the march, as it was heading up market towards embarcadero (in the street intead of on the sidewalk), people started to lead the march up one of the streets (perhaps powell? i forget exactly, but near there), but then others intervened and persuaded the march to get on the sidewalk and stay on market. shortly thereafter, there was a countdown from 10, at which point a couple people started sprinting across market and down 3rd st. (i believe) toward mission, and then the rest of the crowd followed. why would we want to leave market and head down a deserted street? the cops blocked the march and forced everyone onto the sidewalk about halfway down the block, and began pulling in more cops to trap the folks in front. even though it should have been very obvious to anyone looking around that this was happening, and even though it took the cops a while to complete the trap (the sidewalk heading back to market was wide open), people just hung out and didn't move, even though towards the end people were shouting warnings at them that they were about to be trapped and needed to move. a very belated attempt was made to break out of the trap, but it was too late. as i was leaving the area, i noticed another small group just one block away on mission that was also trapped and being arrested by the cops.

a few lessons from this: 1) be very very careful leaving market and heading towards mission, preferably don't go there at all, the other side of market is better in most every respect. 2) as much as possible, stick together on illegal marches, unless we have the numbers to really occupy a bunch of different places at once like on march 20....or, be prepared to move quickly to avoid traps and stay mobile. 3) because there was no sound system, people tended to follow the awesome flags in front. when that is the case, the flag-bearers have a responsibility i feel to really be on it about what's going on. i think that people could have definitely escaped that trap if the flag bearers would have moved back to market instead of standing around like deer blinded by headlights.

ok, here's what really trips me out. it's march 20 (the big day, day X), and we've succeeded in really tying up the financial district brilliantly. the Blac Bloc starts marching on market, behind us several thousand other marchers, it was a very beautiful moment! about four long blocks ahead on market, there are a bunch of cops, but they are no immediate threat. then for some reason, the march turns off market towards mission, and then hangs a left on mission. before hitting mission, some cop cars have their windows smashed, and there is an altercation with a couple cops who respond. there are a bunch of cops behind us. the march was going very slow up mission, and i didn't see any scouts ahead or really anyone looking concerned. but i was getting concerned, so a buddy and i started running up to the intersection and as we were nearing it, a shitload of riot cops come around the block, sprinting, and seal off the intersection. my friend and i just managed to get out of the trap, and we circled back around, and met up with a couple other comrades who managed to escape the other way before the trap was in place. the rest is history of course: approx. 200 arrested, many of them beaten by the cops. in one fell swoop, the most militant portion of the demonstration was taken out, and taken out hard, which affected what we could accomplish the next couple days.

i don't want to spread paranoia here, or make anyone who was making a call on which way to lead the bloc feel guilty. it's a very difficult thing to make calls like that, and mistakes happen. it's also a really challenging task to try and be anonymous, anti-authoritarian, leaderless, and anarchist, yet have groups be able to think and communicate and move quickly. but i want to know a few things, and i'm hoping that people who read this will ask around as well, because no one i've talked to seems to know: why did someone/some people steer the march off market, and away from the rest of the demonstration? why, when there was such a likely chance of a cop attack (especially on a really militant crowd that was hidden on mission street away from market), were there no scouts ahead? why was the march moving so slowly, given all these factors, down a very long block that could be easily sealed off?

most likely, the mistakes made on march 15 and 20 were just mistakes. but there are a ton of undercover cops that we've been noticing, including two in black clothes with earpieces (in particular, one enormous fucking dude who had a video camera on one march and was in the front of another march). it would be pretty easy to lead marches in bad directions, you often just need a loud and convincing voice or to start sprinting in a certain direction. so, let's just try and think clearly about how best to do break-away and Black Bloc marches. again, i think the january 15 (and from what i've heard, feb. 15) were good examples of ways to organize them effectively, march 15 less so, and in my opinion, and the one on march 20 was a disaster.

thanks for your time in reading this and hopefully talking it over with your friends and affinity groups. i hope the tone in this was respectful, because i think people have done some positive and effective work, and i really want these tactics to work. the ritualized, official weekend marches just don't cut it.