Under Tampa’s alternating sunshine and threatening clouds, law
enforcement met the threat of potential anarchist violence during the
Republican National Convention with kindness, patience, food and water.
On Aug. 27, for example, while Tropical Storm Isaac loomed over the city, anarchists pushed back against a phalanx of armored riot police during an afternoon march, taunting them for obstructing the path back to their encampment. Several protesters sat down in front of the riot police.
As the officer stood at the ready, a member of the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service rose to defuse a potentially disastrous situation.
Only minutes earlier a Green Party contingent, whose march with the occupiers included placing children at the head of the procession, had concluded their portion of the demonstration and left the street.
“What do you want?” he asked them.
“We just want to go back the way we came,” replied the anarchists, boxed in between two street intersections by law enforcement.
“Alright, let me see what I can do,” the professional communicator said, before disappearing into the crowd. He returned a few minutes later to lead them through a newly created path between the barricades of riot police.
On Aug. 27, for example, while Tropical Storm Isaac loomed over the city, anarchists pushed back against a phalanx of armored riot police during an afternoon march, taunting them for obstructing the path back to their encampment. Several protesters sat down in front of the riot police.
As the officer stood at the ready, a member of the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service rose to defuse a potentially disastrous situation.
Only minutes earlier a Green Party contingent, whose march with the occupiers included placing children at the head of the procession, had concluded their portion of the demonstration and left the street.
“What do you want?” he asked them.
“We just want to go back the way we came,” replied the anarchists, boxed in between two street intersections by law enforcement.
“Alright, let me see what I can do,” the professional communicator said, before disappearing into the crowd. He returned a few minutes later to lead them through a newly created path between the barricades of riot police.
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