Craig Louis Stehr Reports: January 2013

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Washington, DC Independent Media Center: Anarchist Alliance-DC Network and Chesapeake Earth First! march on Inauguration

Anarchist Alliance-DC Network and Chesapeake Earth First! march on Inauguration
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Monday, 21 January 2013

Summary: Shortly after noon on Jan 21, Chesapeake Earth First! and the Anarchist Alliance-DC Network staged an anticapitalist march on the inauguration and its bag search/grope checkpoints out of McPherson Square. See video of the march and story

Chesapeake Earth First! was there to remind Obama and his supporters to STOP building the Keystone XL in Texas, never approve it crossing the Canadian border, and stop supporting other destructive industries such as fracking and MTW.

The Anarchist Alliance-DC Network was also present, with a message of "don't vote-organize" on the grounds that politicians like Obama are bought and paid for. One person said Obama's 2008 primary campaign had been funded by investment bankers who did not want Hillery Clinton in office. I can't vouch for that statement without examining the FEC documents, but given Obama's deference to the banks on mortgages and CEO bonuses after bailouts it seems plausable.

The march wound it's way through crowds and police chokepoints before protesting in front of a bag search checkpoint on 7th st. Protesters stayed there and educated the crowd, making no attempt to pass through the checkpoint. Next, the march pushed all the way to the "siege wall" surrounding the parade route, before finally disengaging to join with Idle No More's traditional "Round Dance" in Dupont Circle.

Washington, DC Independent Media Center: http://dc.indymedia.org/