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Around 50 to 75 people were allegedly involved in a spree of vandalism, masquerading as a protest, at Westfield San Francisco Centre on Saturday. The mall rally, which started at about 4:30 at 24th and Mission and moved to New College, happened at 6:30 p.m. According to reports, some protesters threw food, one protester "tried to toss a large planter onto the food court below," trash cans were overturned, and lots of yelling was heard.
Apparently this was all part of something called "Solidarity with Greek Uprising," a protest over the "death of a young man in Greece in early December."
However, one of the protesters at the scene, Alex Crumbsnatcher, contacted SFist. Crumbsnatcher tells us a slightly different account of what went down.
We chanted for a while and some people talked and we decided to sit in the streets and decide where to go next. It felt like it was too late to go back and take over New College, and alot of people were losing steam and hope ... We literally ran to Wells Fargo and screamed and chanted and talked outside. We had recruited a few more people along the way and decided to take over market. We kept marching and running and filled up the whole street and stopped oncoming traffic. It was about that time that we decided to go to Westfield Mall.
Then, things got ugly. Or not.
We got there and stormed in, all screaming, and one person jumped up on a directory. He sat there for about 5 seconds and then jumped down. The cops ran at him, and the rest was a huge blur. People started screaming, and the cops took the guy down, and started throwing down and hitting everyone within arm's reach with their nightclubs. It was horrifying. Shoppers who were just there shopping and not involved started screaming at the police as well that we didn't do anything wrong and to stop. We had a cart with soup in it that was to feed the people marching, and in the violence, people got thrown into it, and it got knocked over. This was later said by the police to be us "throwing food." We were literally pushed and thrown out of the mall with nightsticks and police were assaulting anyone who came near them or the paddywagon they had the few arrests that they made locked in.Then, things got even more police-y.
They took off, and we marched down Market a little ways, and then ran down an alley where we thought the police wouldn't be as likely to follow and harrass us. The police came speeding through on bikes, and almost hit several innocent people who were not even involved. I heard several people talk about being in terror of the cops, but not of us. One person tried to block an officer who almost hit him with his bike out of reflex, and was thrown on the pavement, and arrested violently.
The rally ended at the Christmas tree at Union Square. Few arrests were made.
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Why in the hell would a protest group just barge in and destroy the mall?
If you have a problem with Greece, then fly your butt there and cause damage. Don't destroy shit in San Francisco.
Yeah, I sincerely doubt this had much to do with Greece. Anyone with a brain would know that protesting the death of a student in Greece at the hands of a Greek police officer, would realize that protesting here will have very little purpose. So either they are really dumb (that might explain the 'new college' bit) or they just wanted an excuse to express their pent up adolescent rage. I think they would've been far more effective at gaining attention if they did this in the burbs where there is "no crime."
Fucking assholes.
Not the cops, the protesters.
What makes you think we give a shit about your cause HERE? Go to Greece and protest there. The merchants and SFPD did NOTHING to you and NOTHING to Greece - why do you feel they should be held accountable?
Man, SF anarchists are getting stupid these days. As if they ever weren't.
I'm sorry but I hope the cops thumped them.
I was walking home when this happened. I live blogged it on Twitter and took photos.
http://flickr.com/photos/adamjackson/
Why shouldn't they pull this nonsense? It is not like anyone will punish them. The kids can have their little mock protest and think that jumping around the food court downtown will "change the world" when in fact it does not. I mean , were they expecting the shoppers to drop their bags and join in the mayhem? Were they NOT expecting the SFPD to bring a can of whoop-ass to these dangerous kids?
I'd love to see these kids try this kind of stuff somewhere where the population and the city government don't give them a free pass. Yeah, let's see the trustafarian Left go to someplace where they can't count on hiding in a sea of kaffiyeahs in the Mission....
We were downstairs in the food court. My wife looked up and said "What is going on - look at all those people running!" I looked up, saw same, and we bolted out through Bloomingdale's, telling people wandering in to do the same.
I told her I organized it so she wouldn't spend any more money before the movie :)
"Many saw the events as an opportunity to shake up the "old society" and traditional morality, focusing especially on the education system and employment."
"...it is considered to be the watershed moment that saw the replacement of conservative morality (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) with the liberal morality (equality, sexual liberation, human rights) that dominates French society today. Although this replacement did not take place solely in this one month, the term mai 68 is used to refer to the shift in values, especially when referring to its most idealistic aspects."
French riots, 68. How do you guys feel about them?
Why did the protesters need soup?
Sounds like a bunch of jackoffs needed an excuse to run around and trash a mall, and they found a good excuse half a world away.
I feel that the French riots of '68 have fuck all to do with Westfield San Francisco Centre.
At least the 2003 Iraq war protesters (who singlehandedly stopped the war in its tracks, as all know) had a sense of humor when they briefly blocked Bush and Powell Streets.
"followed by a general strike by students and strikes throughout France by ten million French workers, roughly two-thirds of the French workforce."
Huh. So... you think two thirds of the US work force is ready to strike?
No, but they should be.
What do you mean "they," bluecanary?
Did Alex Cocksnatcher bother to mention why he was protesting in the first place? Or was he too overcome with cop-hating?
I feel that the French riots of '68 have fuck all to do with Westfield San Francisco Centre.
Exactly. And the French were thinking the same thing--what does all of this rioting in France have to do with the rioting that happened in America years back that the students and workers keep talking about...
Huh. So... you think two thirds of the US work force is ready to strike?
Do you know why they were striking? Wouldn't that help you get some context out of this whole discussion? What if 10 million workers told you that they were rioting to replace conservative morality with liberal morality?
Riff raff, I say! The lot of them should be rounded up and promptly gassed. Nothing more annoying than bourgeois youth throwing temper tantrums in the street like some kind of left over 1960's cliche. The 60's are over. In fact, they're so over, Obama is now our leader! Therefore, all hippies and their various derivatives should be banned from existence forever.
What I see in these comments is a bunch of people who are feeling upset because they are so powerless in their own lives.
When they see people stand up for themselves, their immediate reaction is to side with the cops, because that way they don't have to question their own inaction and complacency.
Its hard to admit that you should be in the streets fighting for a better life when you are just sitting at your computer.
Its much easier to imagine you're a big powerful police officer, or a rich banker who pays their salaries. Then you don't feel like such a loser.
@understand - street fighting for better lives is reserved for 6 PM on the last Friday of the month!
@what: thanks for the correction. WE should be.
@understand: As much as many of us would like to "fight the man" a lot of us have rent and student loans to pay. Not everyone can live in their parents' basement whilst raging against the machine. or whatever.
Sure the Westfield is a pretty offensive place, but I deal with it by not going there.
however, the men's section at bloomingdales is quite spectacular.
@understand: What you see is people sick of the unbridled self righteousness of whippersnappers unburdened by the unfortunate constraints of adulthood in the modern world. The tragedy is that they don't see how totally cliched they are. Seriously, this whole Boomer 60's nostalgia trip must end, right here, right now! "Solidarity with the Greek Uprising"? Come off it. We have our own problems to worry about right here in SF. Perhaps these silly youths should focus some creative energy on solving those problems before they decide to attack a shopping mall in some misguided attempt at demonstrating empathy with people half way across the planet and who more than likely dislike them as Americans anyway.
What I see in these comments is a bunch of people who are feeling upset because they are so powerless in their own lives.
When they see people stand up for themselves, their immediate reaction is to side with the cops, because that way they don't have to question their own inaction and complacency.
You're so incredibly full of shit. These people were not standing up for themselves. Global economy notwithstanding, the actions of the police in Greece have NOTHING to do with San Francisco, the SFPD, or the merchants that are inconvenienced by this so close to Christmas. They made a statement - that they needed to destroy others' property to feel relevant. How poignant.
If they were so selfless why the fuck did they need soup?
Hanging out at New College? Really? If that doesn't say "loser" I don't know what does.
It hasn't been said yet, so I guess I'll say it.
What a bunch of retarded fucking douchebags.
@understand: you apparently don't do very well with reading comprehension. I read this comments as clearly stating that most people think these protesters were idiots without a cause. And your post suggests that your thought process is about as lucid as the protesters. Rather than immediately assuming that anyone who disagrees with you is a hypocrite, you might try to understand why most people don't have a world view that is quite as wacked as yours.
@RobinSF: ditto.
I read it in a biography of Ho Chi Minh -- no matter what you feel about the man, he got stuff done -- and he said, "A political movement without clearly articulated goals and a plan to reach them, however difficult or improbable, is not a movement at all but a reactionary impulse, at best."
That's the litmus test I put to most "protests" that I see. Iraq war protests? I took part, and although the chances were next to nil that a mass showing of public discontent would cause the Bushies to think twice, it was worth trying. Goals were articulated ("don't do it"), method to reach said (improbable) goals also clear.
If I may quote again: “Protest has devolved into an insular subculture of self-hatred, frustration, and anxiety derived from a pathological attitude towards social integration" (get full context here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/08/081208fa_fact_macfarquhar?currentPage=all)
This is my long-winded way of agreeing with other commenters who think that these energetic youngsters should devote their energies to real change instead of self-indulgent trashing of malls. It's easy to be against things, but harder to be for something: what's the reality you'd like to see, and how are you building it?
In the article I link to above, Naomi Klein talks about "moving the center." I think that's a good guiding principle, and actions like the Westfield one do move the center--in the wrong direction. They make normally left-leaning people pissed off, and move towards the law-and-order right; my first reaction when I heard about this idiocy, and I'm apparently not the only one.
So, whoever you are out there that took part in this, I hope you understand that even if you were well meaning (an extremely charitable view) you did more harm than good.
Gee, you run into a crowded mall screaming and innocent people get hurt because the cops can't tell the insane protesters from the regular people?
Big surprise.
Stupid beyond stupid to storm screaming into a stuffed holiday mall what with the bomb threats in Paris and the Mumbai Massacre.
I feel bad for whoever made the soup. It's kind of an adorably earnest touch. Anyone know what kind it was? I bet it was vegan. Probably was pretty bland.
I feel incredible solidarity with Grease, too. Olivia Newton John Travolta... that these young people -- who are clearly not drippy, spoiled useless rich kids parading as revolutionaries -- care enough about live theater to protest for a classic like Grease... is heartwarming.
As a rich banker I am so grateful that someone finally acknowledged that I pay the cops' salaries. Overtime too. For that kind of money I expect to be able to shop without getting soupy.
If anyone would like help imagining what it's like, contact me thru sfist and we can do a guided meditation.
This protest is so oddly reported. There was NOTHING on the news, in the papers, on the news sites that same day, although I saw plenty of news cameras around the Westfield. I didn't see any reporting on the protest until Monday morning - and the same for SFist! I expect better from you guys. :P
Anyway, I was there, I saw it go down, I saw the cops running around and trying to stop the protestors while avoiding the innocent shoppers. There was no random nightclubbing. They arrested the protestors with as little violence as possible. The police and mall security rushed to get the shoppers who were helping the Nordstrom cafe people clean up their area out of the way, in case the protestors threw more chairs and knocked over more displays.
All in all, I thought the cops did a damn good job protecting the populace. The protestors were fucking idiots who chose the wrong place and the wrong method to get their message across. The whole event left me shaking and outraged. Raiding a packed mall and throwing things just isn't the way to voice your opinion.
You folks keep talking about these clueless youths with no message as if you were there. Did you see their signs? Did you hear what they were talking about on their bullhorns? No?
Consider the possibility that you're just swallowing whole the story you have been told, without questioning. Maybe you would have a lot more in common with the people who were there than you realize? Or maybe you're a rich banker who is trying to figure out what to do with all that bailout money.
Aren't you just the least bit curious what their signs said? Or why they were all taking to the streets?
Free Mumia!!
Or something about that Greek Guy!!
@understandmuffin:
Their message doesn't matter. They conveyed it wrong, period. By acting like petulant children they invalidated it.
You didn't happen to just come down from the top of a tree in Berkeley, did you?
Ahh, this takes me back to living in Southern California 91/92. People in my area actually thought the cops handled Rodney King appropriately, and that black people were being ridiculous for being outraged. And I'm not even talking about the riots--I mean they thought the cops should have been let off. And you know what? They were acquitted, sparking the riots. So living in that time, you have a bunch of people who think it was ok to treat Rodney that way, pissed off because the blacks were uppity and had no right to be outraged, and then the courts support that mentality.
Now let me ask you this--in 2008, how do you feel about Rodney King and the riots? Do you agree with the people in my town (incidentally where some of the cops lived)--that Rodney should have been treated that way, and the blacks had no right to be upset? Or do you view it through a different lens, 16 years later?
BTW, I am not equating the two specifically, what I am trying to do is point out that whenever there is social unrest/opinions/etc, there are a bunch of fuckers like y'all who just want everyone to shut up and not get all uppity. Silence is golden, no? But historically, you understand why these things happen, but now; oh NOW they are just spoiled/young/rich/hipsters/fashionable/etc.
Let me ask you this--what do you think the average age is for people that riot/protest? (historically/etc.)?
Another question for you guys--did any riots/protests do any good historically? I'm sure I'll get the default "it's not the 60's man", well of course not. But it wasn't the 60's in the 90's either. It wasn't the 60's during the mother fucking boston tea party either (fucking rich white whiners, all they had to do was pay a fucking tax--I mean, how are they going to pay for police and services? Fucking hipsters).
BTW, I don't give a fuck either way, you guys just sound so ridiculous.
thisis: That's a lot of words for someone who "don't give a fuck." Liar. Your attitude and lack of perspective is part of the problem. You like questions? How about an answer to one from someone as obviously engaged with the movement as you are: without looking it up, what is the name of the Greek who was shot by the police? How many at the demonstration, do you think, know the answer as well as you do?
Your attitude is such that since protest has been successful in the past that it is always potentially successful in the present. Nuh uh. Execution is everything. What would you say if the Prop 8 leadership acted in this way? Even ACT-UP focussed their actions more precisely than "It's too late to hang out at New College, let's go somewhere else."
Don't just give a shit, give a better shit. That one is always lost on the serial activists.
How about an answer to one from someone as obviously engaged with the movement as you are: without looking it up, what is the name of the Greek who was shot by the police?
The irony lost on you is that in 10 years we may all know his name.
Your attitude is such that since protest has been successful in the past that it is always potentially successful in the present. Nuh uh.
Nuh uh indeed. My point to this is pretty simple: civil unrest is unpopular, and usually pushed forward by youth. If you can't get anything from that, then that's fine. Really! I honestly can't tell you how much I don't care about the Greek kid, or the cause. I am an older gentleman, wearing a stripped button-up old navy shirt from 2 years ago.
I am an apologist, if you will. A devils advocate? I'm more pointing out the impatience and lack of willing to understand that the commenters above a putting out.
I don't give a fuck about the Greek situation. I do give a fuck about other things, that passion you have seen (enough to call me a liar.)
My serious question is still unanswered (it's ok if nobody wants to), but how do you feel about other riots and civil unrest? I am interested in how you felt when it was happening to how you feel (and society feels) after the fact. I am in no way supporting the idea that this is the only course of action.
I heard someone died in Honduras!! Quick. Break a window.
With all that's going on in SF/California/US worth protesting over, these wads chose an utter abstraction on the other side of the planet? It's a kind of narcissism born of privilege and a squandered education.
How about marching to the Federal Reserve and getting your heads around the economic calamity unrolling at home, ya'll. Or don't they have that course at New College?
the way i feel about other riots and civil unrest depends wholly on how clearly they are defined. this is a difference from supporting protest no matter what the occasion, because some people forget that enlisting outsiders to the cause is affected by message fatigue. but hey, if all you have is a hammer...
Ohhh, poor Alex! You're so OPPRESSED because you're a gay white male in San Francisco who has some sort of unique take on dance music!! (Not like other people's!!!) And there's a country in the world that has an oppressive government and abusive police, too. (Who knew?) Well, that's it, then! You're justified in damaging property, disrupting working people's jobs and generally fucking up the day for other people!
Look, it took about two minutes to find someone worse off than you -- a San Quentin inmate -- who actually did something constructive to make people's lives better. Get a clue.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/23/DDME14SN4R.DTL&type=movies
Banners seen being carried by the protesters:
"Stop Police Violence"
"Organize: Prepare for Capitalist Crisis"
"Solidarity With the Greek Uprising"
"Police out of Greece, US Out of the World"
The 15 year old Greek boy's name is Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
As you can see by the banners, the purpose was threefold, and all are interrelated. The Greek boy was killed by police violence. The protests & demonstrations going on worldwide AND in Greece on December 20th (check independent AND mainstream news sources for Greek/Greece protests on 12/20 and you will find they were happening US & worldwide) were sparked by police violence and fueled by joblessness & failing economies as well as corrupt, increasingly privatized governments who care more about pandering to multinational corporations & the war machine that supports them than taking care of their own people & issues.
Our rights are slowly being taken away, one by one under the radar (such as the Patriot Act, HR 1955 which passed quietly through congress & S 1959, READ THEM!!), and the US, as well as other nations, are getting closer & closer to all-out Police States. Capitalism is not working & the constant unquenchable desire for profit is raping the earth, destroying our childrens' future, and putting more & more power in the hands of the corrupt few.
If this isn't a good time to start revolting against the system, I don't know what is! The protest may not have been 100% successful, but it's a start. Maybe people will begin to realize that worldwide, the lower & middle classes are starting to take action. Perhaps the young are the first to revolt, and that is because they are less programmed to go along with the system without question than those older & more settled with jobs, kids, mortgages & more to lose. But we'll see if people feel these issues are more close to home for them when the economy continues to fail & they lose their jobs, their homes, and their rights.
Speaking of losing rights...
This is a must see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SbJZ_G-_C8
And if you think the potential for Martial Law coming up is B.S., check out reports by members of Congress who say Bush threatened to resort to Martial Law if the massive bailout was not pushed through.