10/6
Fashionably early, I rolled into Elizabeth Caruther’s park. It’s a very nice park with little nooks and crannies, and a lovely hill you can relax on and look at the sky (you might even be able to see some stars that shine through the light pollution of the city). Across the park from where I lay lounging on the hill a medic tent was being set up and a trickle of people draped in dark clothes were showing up like apparitions. Across the street, the snack vans (now with 100% less predator) were staging.
Getting antsy, I took off to scout out the ICE building we would inevitably march towards. Clearly, they were ready for us as a few federal officers loitered behind the gate and the floodlights were on full brightness. As I circled back towards the park a PPB SUV slid into an alleyway out of sight. Tri-met was also out and about the area, seeming to do reconnaissance for other agencies in the area.
In my absence, the group at the park had swollen to about 30–40 people. The sound bloc was blasting music and the newly-formed blunt bloc was passing out joints to comrades (in full journalistic objectivity, it was indeed some really good weed). Medics were passing out tear gas wipes, water, and various other things that make protesting easier. The vibe was almost reminiscent of the Occupy ICE days. Mournful wisps of “Bella Ciao” drifted through the air as the group grew more and more.
DURING another ICE scouting trip (this time with being called homophobic slurs by a local resident) it seemed the group of protestors was having a discussion about the agenda for the night. People clustered around Richard, listening to his speech and getting fired up by it. Crisply, the group began to head towards the ICE building. It was obvious that something has changed. Maybe seeing Seattle’s tactics inspired the bloc (this is in fact, highly likely). Regardless, it was tight as fuck.
We arrived at ICE quickly after leaving the park. After about 15 minutes (a minute before 10 pm) after we had arrived the Federal police got on the FEDRAD to tell us that this was now an unlawful assembly and we had two minutes to disperse. This message was not well received by the crowd, who drowned out the FEDRAD with boos and chants and noisemakers. More federal police congealed on the other side of the white fences surrounding the ICE driveway. Approximately 5 snipers were on the roof and were told to fuck off, jump, and do a flip.
A few musicians began serenading the police.
At 10:11-ish, someone hopped on one of the decorative concrete structures and read off a portion of the manifesto of Willem van Spronsen. People listened, but also started to get ready. Behind me, I could hear the rustle of the umbrella bloc arranging themselves for maximum safety.
By 10:30, it had officially been the longest 2 minutes in recorded history. In the distance, someone inquired whether tear gas is vegan. Federal police paced in their fenced-off enclosure like a wild animal in a zoo.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone was starting to dance to WAP when someone got pinged in the knee with something. The mood that had been jovial and relaxed suddenly turned righteously seething. “There will be trials, and there will be hangings” warned a protestor.
Shortly after that, the feds burst out from their cage, weapons drawn flinging tear gas canisters and shooting at us. Flashbangs exploded near my feet. People tried to hold but the gas was so thick that if you stretched your arm out you couldn’t see your hand on the other end of your arm.
Several of the canisters started small fires, that was quickly extinguished. I scrambled away as the feds continued to press us for a moment before retreating under the cover of smoke. I ran from the feds and gas diving into the darkness of the labyrinth of courtyards. While I was crouching behind a concrete flower box with a comrade, the feds finally dispersed as did the bulk of the gas.
Back at the park, the group had re-assembled. I walked past as they began moving back in the direction of ICE, I headed to the train station to retire for the night. An ambulance and firetruck whizzed past me as I left, later it would come to light that the tear gas was so bad that a resident of one of the apartments required emergency medical attention.
The tactics and overall vibe of the group were subtly different than in the past. The past 120+ days had sharpened people’s skills, as had the skillshare between different cities. The bloc seemed less like a loose organization of cliques, and more like a cohesive mass made of individuals, shifting the crowd the way birds in a flock do. The sheer persistence is awe-inspiring. Victory is just over the horizon.
