stories/mmm2000.html

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Thu, 31 May 2001 01:50:28 GMT

This page contains pictures that I took at the Millennium Marijuana March in New York City on March 6, 2000. Clicking on any picture will bring up a larger version. I give you permission to use these pictures as you wish, as long as you give me credit and don't edit or crop them. Size changes are OK.

I drove to Hudson, took the train to Penn Station, the 7th Ave. subway to 14th street, and walked to Washington Square Park.

Hudson Train Station

I sat on a bench in Washington Square Park for about an hour and a half, ate one of my sandwiches, and talked to some high school students from New Jersey who sat down beside me. There were lots of police there. At one point a bunch of protesters with signs marched into the park, and were stopped and turned back by the police. No arrests that I saw. We didn't have a permit to protest in Washington Square Park, something I knew beforehand from the Cures Without Wars email.


Police Trucks and Statue of LaGuardia	Sign on a park bench

Cops in Washington Square Park	Protesters being evicted

At about 12:30, I asked the gaggle of cops who were standing next to my bench whether it was OK with them if I assembled my sign and then walked to the parade assembly point. One cop, in a black uniform, said it was OK with him. A cop in a white uniform, however, said that we didn't have a permit for Washington Square Park, so if I showed my sign there, they would take it away. So I walked to the parade start point with the New Jersey high school students following along.

When we got to Broadway and Houston, the start point, I asked one of the high school students to help me assemble my sign. I taped the handle to the foam board, then taped the signs on top. We then went to a "holding pen" that the cops had erected to wait for 1:00.


Cops beside "holding pen"	Another "holding pen" picture?

We marched for about an hour and a quarter, finally arriving at Battery Square Park. Some under-cover cops dragged off the people right in front of me at one point. I booed them, but didn't get much of the crowd to join me.

<flame>
Thinking about this and an arrest I witnessed in Battery Square Park led me to an idea. We must train ourselves how to respond to an arrest for any victimless crime (cannabis possession in the case of this march), Everybody sit down on the ground, as close to the arrest target as you can get and oink at the pigs. Keep it light. Treat the cops like unruly children who refuse to learn. The idea is to shame them. Occasional calls of, "Soooooey" or, "Pigs go home", will make it more fun. If they want to arrest you, go limp and make them drag you away. Remain peaceful. If attacked by the pigs, defend yourself by going into the fetal position and holding your hands over your head. Tell them nothing but your name and address. Do NOT show ID. Plead innocent and demand a jury trial. If they EVER stop giving us jury trials, then it will be time to kill them. Make sure the jury knows that they have a right and duty to find you innocent because the law is wrong. The judge probably won't like this. Tough.
</flame>

During the march, I walked and talked for a while with John Clifton, the New York Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senator. I told him that I don't plan to vote in November, but that I might still change my mind. I didn't talk with him much, but he seemed a reasonable fellow, and his literature makes sense. I'd vote for a bum off the street before Herr Rudy or Queen Hillary. Nice to have a real alternative. If you must vote, choose him. Remember, if you choose the lesser of two evils, you are still choosing evil. Don't waste your vote on an evil person. Choose good instead. Clifton for U.S. Senate.

John Clifton

I also briefly met Bob Armstrong, who is the Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. representative from one of the New York City districts. He tried to convince me to vote. Maybe I will. Bob Armstrong for NY8 in 2K.


Bob Armstrong, 1 of the good guys	Join the Libertarian Posse, BobA-in-Y2K

I took a few more pictures at the Libertarian Party table in Battery Square Park. Bob Armstrong brought the sign with the famous Elian Gonzales picture. He and John carried it for most of the parade.

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Bob Armstrong's sign: End the Nanny Police State

Unknown man with Zappa shirt	No Victim, No Crime. Gestapo go home.

Here are a couple of other signs/outfits I liked and remembered to photograph.

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Me with my "End the War on Freedom" sign

Giuliani Police State	Orange Man (I think he was there last year, too)
"LegalizeIt000506-320x240"
Legalize It!

The uniformed cops mostly disappeared after the parade, unlike last year when they made a ring around the outside of the crowd. The plain clothes guys made arrests, though. I saw one guy in plastic handcuffs, with a burly pig holding his arm.


Police van and bus	Mobile Arrest Center

I took a few other pictures of the crowd and the first band. We got to the park at around 2:15. I left shortly after 3:00 so that I could get back to Chatham by 6:30 for Christopher's school play. There were a bunch of speakers and bands scheduled, but I missed them.




"MJFlag000506-240x320"

I had a good time. Last year I noticed lots of tension in the air. It was hard to remain calm. This year seemed a lot more relaxed. Maybe I was just more used it. Hard to tell.

I'm lousy at estimating crowds, so I won't try. I thought we looked like fewer than last year during the parade, but we filled up more of Battery Square Park than last year, so I think there were more of us.

I'll be looking for stories in the news and will put pointers here when I find them, in sha' allah.

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History

Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair