Arrival- massive police presence

While driving around downtown doing a little reconnaissance and looking for parking I was continually stunned by the massive police presence. A mobile police tower was in the park across from the Riviera, paddy wagons seemed to be on every corner, helicopters circled overhead, and at least 200-300 riot cops and “special ops” in green camo were concentrated at market square and the court house.

Clown up- spectacle

Walking through market square and crutch park, there was palpable tension in the air. I looked forward to breaking some of this tension with some clown spectacle, and was delighted to see multiple clowns in Krutch park and at least one other ACCORDION CLOWN!! Woohooo!

I slipped on my tutu, my rainbow wig, and my accordion, and showed off my latest circus tunes. The other accordionist clown gleefully responded with a great medley of bob Marley tunes, to which I danced around with clownish fervor while cameras snapped and video rolled.

Things seemed a bit more relaxed for a while, which made me realize the genius of the clown response to the nazi-kkk presence. Not only does it say “you nazi-kkk types are such a bunch of freaks that we can only respond by letting our most extreme freak flag fly”, the celebratory, fun-loving vibe of good clownage brakes the tension created by the massive police presence these things always bring. Kids (yes many people brought their kids) were especially drawn toward the tension relief of the clowns and flocked toward them.

Whilst clowning I was delighted to see that this was a much more diverse demo with way more African Americans than the ones I am used to going to (anti-war, global justice movement, various environmental issues).

The Nazi’s come marching in

One thing I will say for the Nazi-KKK types. Just by being who they are they create a massive impact with minimal numbers and effort. There were maybe 25 marching, with another 25 waiting at the court house. But there were several hundred police and between 500 and 1000 counter-demonstrators.

Now, before all the folks who said “ignore them” start in with the “I told you so’s”, I just don’t buy the proposition that we should let them take over downtown for a day. That would be interpreted as a sign of acceptance and they would be back next year or sooner.

Their march was pitifully small and showed both a lack of spirit and imagination. Unless you muscled your way into the noisy scrum of counter-demonstrators all you saw of the Nazis was a few anti-immigration signs and maybe shaven head, a mean look, and a racist shirt or tattoo. They were completely outgunned, so to speak.

Bad Planning by KPD

I do think that the demo should have been routed around market square and down Gay Street and not through Market Square and down Market St. While the nazi’s themselves were small, the whole crowd was not, and there was a real danger of people getting hit by the many police paddy wagons following the procession. There were way too many paddy wagons given the space.

This poor planning was echoed again at the courthouse. While the nazi’s were given plenty of space on the courthouse lawn, the counter-demonstrators were hearded into a bullpen that was too small and became so packed with people that there was little room for the theatrics that made this event such a media coup last time.

Having said that, the police were generally courteous to all us counter-demonstrators. Way more courteous than at other demos I’ve been too. One plain clothes cop even told me that most of the police there were volunteering their time!

So hurray for the KPD rank and file, but boo for whoever planned the spaces for the event. Next time the NSM shows up, the bull pen for counter-demonstrators should be four or five times as large as this years.

Much love to all who attended (even the nazi-kkk types- may you soon see the error of your ways.)

Alex Pulsipher