LA Warned On Democratic Convention
By Michelle DeArmond
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 26, 2000; 8:56 p.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES –– Using videotape of the violent protests during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle to make their point, police are warning downtown businesses to prepare for the worst during the Democratic National Convention next month.
Business owners should consider boarding up glass walls and windows, hiring additional security and stocking up on emergency provisions like flashlights, food and water, police suggested during a presentation to downtown workers Wednesday.
"It's almost like a tornado," said Detective Darryl Butler, who has been giving up to four such talks a day with his partner. "You can see it coming, but you don't know where it's going to go."
At the request of businesses and property owners, police have been meeting with downtown workers to answer questions and give advice on how to prepare for the Aug. 14-17 event. Eight officers have been making the rounds over the past month, police said.
Although some estimates are that as many as 50,000 protesters will converge on Los Angeles, police say it's difficult to know how many will come or what they'll do once they arrive.
A coalition of activists has been trying to convince the public that nonviolent demonstrations, marches and acts of civil disobedience are planned and that fears about violence are overblown.
Police concede that some of the protesters will be nonviolent, but said they have just cause to expect destructive demonstrators, too.
Officials said they already have found signs that anarchists from a national organization based in Oregon are in Los Angeles. Within the past few weeks, police have arrested a handful of people for taking pictures of downtown buildings from rooftops and other unusual places, Butler said. The suspects' addresses all trace back to Oregon, he said.
At his monthly news conference Wednesday, Police Chief Bernard Parks said police were contacting businesses in an effort to "develop a close relationship" with private security guards and to warn multinational corporations and chains, such as Starbucks, that they may become targets.
Parks said his department will be prepared "for any eventuality" that develops, but wants protesters and others to not think of Los Angeles as an "armed encampment."
© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
________________________________________
"stocking up on emergency provisions like flashlights, food and water, "
ha , ha !!
Sounds like preps for a boy scout trip, not a riot ! But then, Californians are forbidden to offer any type of resistance to anarchists, arsonists, gang-bangers, etc. Maybe Barbara Boxer's bodyguards will help protect your busineses ?
By Michelle DeArmond
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 26, 2000; 8:56 p.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES –– Using videotape of the violent protests during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle to make their point, police are warning downtown businesses to prepare for the worst during the Democratic National Convention next month.
Business owners should consider boarding up glass walls and windows, hiring additional security and stocking up on emergency provisions like flashlights, food and water, police suggested during a presentation to downtown workers Wednesday.
"It's almost like a tornado," said Detective Darryl Butler, who has been giving up to four such talks a day with his partner. "You can see it coming, but you don't know where it's going to go."
At the request of businesses and property owners, police have been meeting with downtown workers to answer questions and give advice on how to prepare for the Aug. 14-17 event. Eight officers have been making the rounds over the past month, police said.
Although some estimates are that as many as 50,000 protesters will converge on Los Angeles, police say it's difficult to know how many will come or what they'll do once they arrive.
A coalition of activists has been trying to convince the public that nonviolent demonstrations, marches and acts of civil disobedience are planned and that fears about violence are overblown.
Police concede that some of the protesters will be nonviolent, but said they have just cause to expect destructive demonstrators, too.
Officials said they already have found signs that anarchists from a national organization based in Oregon are in Los Angeles. Within the past few weeks, police have arrested a handful of people for taking pictures of downtown buildings from rooftops and other unusual places, Butler said. The suspects' addresses all trace back to Oregon, he said.
At his monthly news conference Wednesday, Police Chief Bernard Parks said police were contacting businesses in an effort to "develop a close relationship" with private security guards and to warn multinational corporations and chains, such as Starbucks, that they may become targets.
Parks said his department will be prepared "for any eventuality" that develops, but wants protesters and others to not think of Los Angeles as an "armed encampment."
© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
________________________________________
"stocking up on emergency provisions like flashlights, food and water, "
ha , ha !!
Sounds like preps for a boy scout trip, not a riot ! But then, Californians are forbidden to offer any type of resistance to anarchists, arsonists, gang-bangers, etc. Maybe Barbara Boxer's bodyguards will help protect your busineses ?