A Demonstration of Demonstrations to Come: Another Look at Rochester’s Anti-Capitalist March

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>At first glance it looked like a re-emergence party for the local Occupy Rochester chapter Saturday evening when upwards of around 150 people took to the streets in an Anti-Capitalist March.&nbsp; The march, not part of any Occupy event, started at Washington Square Park but demonstrators did not stay long and as a result marched through most of Rochester’s eastern downtown and Park Avenue areas.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The majority of the demonstration took place directly in the streets.&nbsp; Though marchers did cause a level of vehicle congestion through their route they were eager to be courteous to the people they were passing shouting cheers and peace signs while allowing public transportation to pass through.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Learning lessons from the recent Occupy movement, Saturday’s demonstrators made sure their voices were heard with a clear message.&nbsp; There was a constant stream of chants and slogans as the group moved through the streets ranging from old favorites such as “We Are the 99%!” to the more on point “Ah-Anti-Anti-Capi-Talista!”&nbsp; Not everyone was completely aware of what the march was about though “Well we were just trying to figure out what they were saying… All I heard was that they were ‘unstoppable’” said one woman watching the march from her lunch table on Park Avenue.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Though onlookers only had a vague awareness of why the demonstration was happening the public response to the marchers was the most remarkable part of the demonstration besides the message.&nbsp; Responses seemed to vary from beaming smiles from inside cars and front porches to indifferent stares.&nbsp; One man, when beckoned by the crowd to join the march replied to a cry of “You too are the 99%!!” with “No, I’m the 100%!” and with a chuckle joined the ranks.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Though police presence was minimal for the majority of the march, reactions of the Rochester Police Department to the demonstration will leave a bad taste in the mouths of those involved.&nbsp; The Rochester Police seemed to be keeping their distance, merely keeping an eye on the overwhelmingly peaceful march through the streets.&nbsp; When the demonstrators reached East Avenue things started to heat up and get tense when the police formed a human barricade which forced marchers onto the sidewalks.&nbsp; The arrests started when some of the more confrontational demonstrators refused to walk on the sidewalk and continued in the streets.&nbsp; After the initial arrests came the seemingly snatch and grab tactics of the Rochester Police of people complying with police orders to continue the march on sidewalks.&nbsp; Mary Scardino of Rochester joined the demonstration because she is unhappy with the state of the country and looked at the march as an outlet to let the public know her frustrations but when the police started acting the way they did towards the demonstrators “The police were overpowered” she said.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Not everyone agreed that the police’s actions were unprovoked.&nbsp; Some onlookers noticed that the police seemed ready to “beat some people.”&nbsp; Though they agreed that the police response was “a little excessive” they also concluded that it was not unprovoked.&nbsp; They recalled one instance where police ordered the marchers onto the sidewalk but then one person stepped out in front of police deliberately defying the order and as a result was arrested.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Through confrontation with the police, demonstrators were certainly able to hold up their message and exuberance to share it.&nbsp; Matt, a demonstrator who traveled from Syracuse with a group of friends to be a part of the march criticized Capitalism as a viable economic model because of the inevitable culture it creates which leads to people living in a state where they buy and spend needlessly and sometimes thoughtlessly just to feed a system that eventually breaks people down and de-humanizes them.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If nothing else, this demonstration has shown the activist community what challenges they face in future actions.&nbsp; Activists were not the only group directly affected by the march though, there is a clear upward trend of citizens getting involved with their political community.&nbsp; The Rochester Police Department has also had a learning experience with this demonstration seeing that the activists did not back down from the Department’s use of force and the community blowback from the tactics used.&nbsp; Hopefully the Anti-Capitalist March serves as a demonstration and learning experience for all of those involved, especially with more activist actions in the near future and the election season coming up fast, it is going to prove to be an interesting time for the Rochester community.</p>

<p> </p> <p>At first glance it looked like a re-emergence party for the local Occupy Rochester chapter Saturday evening when upwards of around 150 people took to the streets in an Anti-Capitalist March.  The march, not part of any Occupy event, started at Washington Square Park but demonstrators did not stay long and as a result marched through most of Rochester’s eastern downtown and Park Avenue areas.</p> <p>                 The majority of the demonstration took place directly in the streets.  Though marchers did cause a level of vehicle congestion through their route they were eager to be courteous to the people they were passing shouting cheers and peace signs while allowing public transportation to pass through.</p> <p>                Learning lessons from the recent Occupy movement, Saturday’s demonstrators made sure their voices were heard with a clear message.  There was a constant stream of chants and slogans as the group moved through the streets ranging from old favorites such as “We Are the 99%!” to the more on point “Ah-Anti-Anti-Capi-Talista!”  Not everyone was completely aware of what the march was about though “Well we were just trying to figure out what they were saying… All I heard was that they were ‘unstoppable’” said one woman watching the march from her lunch table on Park Avenue.</p> <p>                Though onlookers only had a vague awareness of why the demonstration was happening the public response to the marchers was the most remarkable part of the demonstration besides the message.  Responses seemed to vary from beaming smiles from inside cars and front porches to indifferent stares.  One man, when beckoned by the crowd to join the march replied to a cry of “You too are the 99%!!” with “No, I’m the 100%!” and with a chuckle joined the ranks.</p> <p>                Though police presence was minimal for the majority of the march, reactions of the Rochester Police Department to the demonstration will leave a bad taste in the mouths of those involved.  The Rochester Police seemed to be keeping their distance, merely keeping an eye on the overwhelmingly peaceful march through the streets.  When the demonstrators reached East Avenue things started to heat up and get tense when the police formed a human barricade which forced marchers onto the sidewalks.  The arrests started when some of the more confrontational demonstrators refused to walk on the sidewalk and continued in the streets.  After the initial arrests came the seemingly snatch and grab tactics of the Rochester Police of people complying with police orders to continue the march on sidewalks.  Mary Scardino of Rochester joined the demonstration because she is unhappy with the state of the country and looked at the march as an outlet to let the public know her frustrations but when the police started acting the way they did towards the demonstrators “The police were overpowered” she said.</p> <p>                Not everyone agreed that the police’s actions were unprovoked.  Some onlookers noticed that the police seemed ready to “beat some people.”  Though they agreed that the police response was “a little excessive” they also concluded that it was not unprovoked.  They recalled one instance where police ordered the marchers onto the sidewalk but then one person stepped out in front of police deliberately defying the order and as a result was arrested.</p> <p>                Through confrontation with the police, demonstrators were certainly able to hold up their message and exuberance to share it.  Matt, a demonstrator who traveled from Syracuse with a group of friends to be a part of the march criticized Capitalism as a viable economic model because of the inevitable culture it creates which leads to people living in a state where they buy and spend needlessly and sometimes thoughtlessly just to feed a system that eventually breaks people down and de-humanizes them.</p> <p>                If nothing else, this demonstration has shown the activist community what challenges they face in future actions.  Activists were not the only group directly affected by the march though, there is a clear upward trend of citizens getting involved with their political community.  The Rochester Police Department has also had a learning experience with this demonstration seeing that the activists did not back down from the Department’s use of force and the community blowback from the tactics used.  Hopefully the Anti-Capitalist March serves as a demonstration and learning experience for all of those involved, especially with more activist actions in the near future and the election season coming up fast, it is going to prove to be an interesting time for the Rochester community.</p>