Students Vandalize Recruiting Office Photo Gallery by n at pbase.com

Students Vandalize Recruiting Office

1966 or 2006? Today 500-600 high school students left their classes in the Twin Cities to protest the Iraq War. The peaceful protest included some civil disobedience with some paint thrown on the window of the recruiting office near the University of Minnesota Campus. Students said what one person in their group did to draw attention to their cause pales in comparison to the death in Iraq and the money being diverted from education and healthcare in the US. I have learned from reading other eye-witness reports that the paint thrown at the recruiting office was the action of a sole protester and that many in the group disagreed with that action.

The good news about this rally is that young people are engaged in the political discourse. Imagine the tunrout and reaction if there were a military draft. This should be a warning to policy makers about engaging in more optional, pre-emptive wars.

Here is a link to story I wrote about the protest: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/29/114853/825

01 College Not Combat Banner.jpg	02 Front of the march.jpg	03 Fresh Paint on Window.jpg	04 Smearing Paint.jpg
05 Arrested.jpg	06 Army Recruiting.jpg	07 Red Hands 02.jpg	08 Red Hands 01.jpg
09 Red Hands 03.jpg	10 Just after the arrests.jpg	11 Coffman Union.jpg	12 Crowd in front of Recruiter.jpg
13 Drummers.jpg	14 Love more value than oil.jpg	15 Love the Soldier Hate the War.jpg	16 Masked Marchers.jpg
17 No More Blood for Oil.jpg	18 No War Button.jpg	19 Painted Faces.jpg	20 Peace Sign with Red Hand.jpg
21 Peace Sign and Mounted Police Smile.jpg	22 Peace Signs.jpg	23 Arm with No War 02.jpg	24 Skull Pants.jpg

comment |

elle		22-Jun-2006 18:37
thanks for the pics u are soo grand at them i love the one of my ass lol well thanks again

Guest		03-May-2006 17:47
The groups sponsoring the protest decided to neither endorse nor condemn the vandalism. By and large, we agree with the sentiment behind it. The only problem is that it led to the arrests of several people who had no clue it was going to happen, and the sponsoring groups now have to deal with that, including helping to organize legal defenses. Next time, what needs to happen is that those who wish to employ stronger tactics should discuss it in a democratic fashion ahead of time, and help us to deal with the consequences. Speaking for myself, I agree that the typical protests aren't doing any good. But also understand that having to rapidly respond to the skewed media coverage, making sure all the innocents arrested are doing fine, calling lawyers and police watchdog groups, and so on is hard, time-consuming work when you're not expecting to have to do it.

Guest		01-May-2006 20:35
LS-The whole event with the paint was improvised. The Bloc was present out of a convergence of young anarchists who were at the event. I am hoping more will show up next Novmeber. More organized and with a plan.

LS		30-Apr-2006 19:43
Certainly red paint is a good place to start, but to posit 'paint' as a non-symbolic mode of resistance is a tad disingenuious. Perhaps, if anarchists wish to attack both the war institutions, and anti-war complacency, a more direct approach that transforms the event into something less like a protest would be more appropriate. Occupations of buildings, and subsequent trashings. (See: recent resistance against the anti-youth labor laws in France) But for real, mad props.

ryan		29-Apr-2006 05:17
"Students said what they did to draw attention to their cause pales in comparison to the death in Iraq and the money being diverted from education and healthcare in the US." The act of vandalism you saw today at the protest was not done by the organizers, and it was unjust for them to claim the action at their own. The act of throwing red paint at the recruiting station was done by a sole group of anarchists who were resisting both the war and the complacency of the anti-war movement. The current movement has become a parody of resistance, with nothing more than mass gatherings and symbolic protest. While most the students gathered remained in a mode of repeat, a group of a few induviduals had had enough. They replaced meaningless symbolic protest with real resistance. ABC Press Office Press Officer Ryan

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