Hey, family. i was going to make this into a zine, but who knows how long that will take. i figure that this information is better hot off the press, and not cold. This is really long, so be warned... i hope this makes things a bit clearer for you, and helps inspire some for the future...

i am here- shell shocked and numb, but physically okay. i figure that some of you might be wodering what the fuck went on in prague this past week- well, here's what i witnessed...

i left the organic farm that i was volunteeting at on the 23 of september, nervous as all hell, cuz word was out on how draconian the border pigs were acting- they were turning away hundreds if not thousands of people who wanted to tell the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to fuck off. I dressed smart, and fortunately i didn't have any problems. Instantly, when i got to prague, i realised that i was in a police state- a police state that i had never seen the likes of before... hoardes of cops in front of virtually every multi-national chain, and on every street corner. i saw them randomly checking passports on any young person who didn't look like they fit into the status quo. It's times like this that the police make themselves so obvious what they're really protecting- the rich business',of course...

i had a feeling that this blatant harassment was just adding to the stress and anger of the situation. "The shit's gonna go down,"i said to myself, as i left the train station. i quickly hooked up with old friends, who were already knee deep in loads of projects.

They took me to the convergence center, (where cops outside checked my passport) which had the sweetest fucking energy that i had ever seen for a pre-protest meeting place. There was lots of cool shit going on in this huge empty warehouse that had a sizeable yard around it. It didn't feel like i was surrounded by boring 'activists', but people who wanted to have fun, and express there rage at the fucked-up system in new and exiting ways. Different marching bands were practicing constantly. All kinds of workshops from self-defense to the situation with the homicidal u.$. funded paramilitary in columbia was going on, and loads more... The meetings had 3, 4, or 5 translaters, usually. This rad dutch collective made vegan/organic lunch and dinner for a donation everyday. One group was making a giant pink tank, while others made banners and puppets. A group of primarily italian anarchists by the name of Ya Basta (Enough), planned on busting through police lines to shut down the meeting and were planning their method. The group i was involved in was making a giant globe, made of sticks and material, that was made with the idea to bowl through a police line (as if that would ever happen, you say).

There was an amazing housing shortage during all of this. Everyone's apartment floor was covered with people and backpacks. i slept in a different place every night for the entire week and a half i was in prague, which was cool to see how all different kinds of people were doing their thing behind closed doors.

Now, by the 25th, thounsands of gas masks were sold to the protesters, for dirt cheap. Trying on a gas mask for the first time is eary. Am i really up for a chemical war? Fuck, i guess so. My glasses don't fit underneath them, which is going to be a foreseeable problem. Numerous different little affinity groups were dropping banners all over town at this point. One of the most interesting, and brutally intense, things that i saw was seeing people gear up for a street battle with czech riot cops. Loads of people were strapping on foam padding on their arms- Many in Ya Basta were covering most of their entire bodies. People are defending themselves. i had a feeling shit like this was gonna start happening. If the cops have body armor and leathal weaponry, why shouldn't the protesters? i slept with my hommies in the convergence center on the night of the 25th. The pigs busted the meeting spot in D.C. the night before the IMF protest in April,and the Republican Convention in Philly protesters had all their shit confiscated and destroyed, too, in september. It's a humiliating and debilitating experience. It kicks the protesters right in the crotch, and they know it. i was convinced that they were going to do it here, as well.

On two hours sleep i woke up at 5 AM, and was surprised to not be woken up with a gun in my face. "They must be on their way then," i said to myself. We packed the puppets, and that fucking globe- it was 7AM, now ,and still no cops! They must be waiting to nab us when we leave then. Sleepy-eyed and hungry, we headed on down to Namesti Mru-the meeting place where we all were to meet at 11AM...and can you believe it- we actually made it there!!! With all of our shit!!! We didn't even have a police escort- i couldn't understand it...

We rolled the globe in, and the people slowly started to fill the square. Some of the czech folk pointed out the undercover cops dressed like punks and hippies, and, man, were there loads of 'em. That was quite freaky. The labor unions weren't to involved with this, which made me sad, initially, but i later found out why- the AFL-CIO, which gathered fuck loads of people for the WTO protest in seattle said that they are concerned with trade (and trade laws), and not the lending policies of the corporate elite and the few rich nations of the world. Also, prague is pretty out of the way for many. Lastly, czech has a very weak union/labor movement at the moment. What can you do?

As the big march went the mass of people were going to split into 3 groups; the yellow, the pink and silver, and the blue. My group was apart of the blue. We carried a banner that said 'Our world is not for Sale' in front of the giant globe. Behind us was the giant black block. The anarcho-syndicalist union, the CNT, and loads of people of all nationalities made up the balaclavaed black block. A group of women called themselves the Radical Cheerleaders, and they were a crowd favorite with their hilarious rhymes, and choreography. There was a 'Queers Against Capitalism' group, too. Collective anger- what a powerful, and scary thing. Hearing people chant slogans at normal protests Vs. hearing people say them with seething anger is a completely different thing all together. "NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, FUCK THE POLICE!",and, "SMASH, SMASH- SMASH THE IMF!", was being yelled at the top of people's lungs. The energy was rising...We now broke away from the main march...

We rolled that damn globe on and on... it was getting hot now... the police were being chill. Some of the black block started to smash windows which looked like residential apartments (they turned out to be some ministry of blah, blah, blah...) the crowd didn't seem to exited about that. A fair amount of grafitti was going on around us, and then some one yelled, "That's the Convention Center up ahead!" Wow, we're already there?!? Holy shit! Why didn't they cut us off? Yup, the shit's gonna go down...

The crowd debated for a minute to go up the main road, or up and around the side street- the mass chose the side street, which had this weird staircase along it that went up and into some trees. Some people started to run up that way, while the masses turned the corner on the old cobblestone road, and there they were- the security force of the World Banker's- the czech riot police- and an armored vechicle with a water cannon on top- and a tank...And did the volume start to rise!

The crowd wasted no time taking the metal barriers out in front of the cops- then i heard one person yell 7...6...5...4...a few more joined in...3...2...hold on tight...one...!!!!BOOOOOOM!!!!

A charge of people with decent sized wood sticks (acquired off of the socialist worker placards of all places) went toe to toe with the line, and then the bricks came...and came... and sent the cops back a bit... and then the cops got there ground back... "NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, FUCK THE POLICE!".... and then the molotov's came- when a molotov coctail lands, not only is there a petrol induced explosion, but a collective explossion amongst the crowd, as well- for it sends back quite a few cops real quick, and the crowd smells the fear, and charges more... and attack... and throw more bricks...then the water cannon came... duck, and jive, duck, and jive...

An event then occured that created an image in my head that i will never forget. The globe, which i momentarily lost track of- was now at the front being pushed by some people against the cops! Can you believe it! The cops versus the world! That's what we built the thing for- and that is what was happening-i was frozen. Fortunately for the cops, they were coming down on us, while we were going up at them. That single fact probably saved there lives. They seemed monenatarily stunned with the globe attack, and the crowd ripped into them some more... then they turned the water cannons on it, which blew the material clear off off it- now the security force of the IMF/WB were destroying the world. It was too much...

The water cannon was loosening the cobble-stones, and people had an assembly line going- one crew dug 'em up, another transported, adn then the masses took aim and kept on throwing... i saw their shields, many shields, burst into pieces from the force of these bricks. More molotov's came... seeing a molotov thrown at a cop is scary, for where i come from, the U$ of A, a cop pretty much has permission to shoot you on the spot for that shit. If you get caught - you're doing 25 years minimium for attempted murder. These people weren't concerned, though. They had nothing to lose... all these years of getting harassed by cops, and society, and the corporations, and having no outlet for the anger and frustration was finally coming to a boil. i was seeing the people speak, and it wasn't kind...

Oh my god, can this crowd bust through these lines?!? Can we shut down this meeting with collective force? i can't believe this- i have only seen crowds run like hell when cops raise their batton, but it doesn't scare this crowd...while this is going on 50, or so, people get right up to one of the doors, and don't know what to do (remember the crew that went up the strange staircase?) Then the tear-gas came... take off my glasses, put on my mask, and, oh shit, it's fogging up- it musn't be on tight enough....hit in the gut with a blast from the cannon, which knocks the wind out of me for a second... i look over and see the banner that we made still in the front! My crew of silly-arty-types still holding out! the designer of the banner used a water proof tarp, supported with pieces of wood and handles for exactly this raason (pretty ingenius)... saturated, blind, and having bricks wiz by my head, i retreat, and find a friend. "Have you seen the other's?" No... then the concusion grenades came...they basically are the equivalent to a m-80 fire cracker. Having them land near you is really freaky-and loud, and i saw some pretty good wounds from those things... the water cannon truck runs dry, and the crowd charges back...As i retreat i see medics on the side bandaging up the wounded... the streets have barely any cobble-stones left... i am shivering from the freezing water... they really start launching the concusion grenades now... boom-boom-boom-boom... What's that? the marching band is still playing! And they all got gas-mask on! "Wow," my friend says.,"These people can sure fight." No shit...

i go to the bottom of the hill to see what's going on down there- people seem a bit scared that we're gonna get trapped on the hill. i dry off in the sun, and shoot the shit with a couple of other american's who are in disbelief, "Dude, they're throwing molotov's- that's fucking gnarly!" No shit...

After an hour of trench warfare, the police slowly push the crowd back. Only one of my friends got hit by a cop; it could be much worse. People were sprayed with white paint in the front by the cops, so 'snatch squads' could spot them later. People were franticly turning their clothes inside out. Out of nowhere we get hit by tear-gas- "Where the fuck did that come from?" A mob of robo pigs come barrelling out of the trees beating anything in sight. BArricades start to be built out of residenial fences- scaffolding poles,a and random pieces of wood. Guerrilla warfare... people take the manhole covers off the streets and put a barricade in front of it. that really slowed the cops on that street- on the adjacent street, people ripped down multiple billboards- what a sight! And made barricades with them- and then set them on fire...

Where to now?

My group looked like shit... i figured splitting off was the best idea- i went to a park on the river a dried off in the sun, and ate my lunch... aaah, much better- as this was going on the yellow group, led by Ya Basta, were on the main highway dressed in white radiation suits, covered in padding, and wielding sticks at the rows of cops there... the pink and silver group were supposed to be the non-violent gruop, but shit was breaking out there, too!

People were to meet up at the grand opera house to shut down the IMF delagates evening plans. Thousands came out and shut it down. It was now 8 o clock. The pink group and blue group, we're making their way back and some people splintered off to march down to the Charles Bridge to protest the 11 people arrested thus far, while another group went down the highway to stop the delegates other evening plans, at some fancy dinner hall- that's were i went. Walking on carless highways is fun as shit- i highly recommend it...

Little would i know, that as we were marching down the highway, the blue group came back in full force into the big tourist area near the opera house, and went nuts on a McDonald's. i heard it was thrashed nonstop for half an hour! A mercedes dealership, a kentucky fried chicken, a bank, and who know what else, all got it good. As all this was going on the marching band from Seattle, the Infernal noise Brigade, played through it all, once again.

The cops came back in full force though. they blanketed the area and did mass arrests and mass beatings. i saw video footage of a guy get hand-cuffed, beaten and thrown back throgh the McDonald's! Now that's some intense imagery- the poor guy was followed by 4 cops, and who knows what happened next...they aressted 5-600 that night, and the rest of the night the city of prague barely slept a wink...

September 27, 2000. i was completely separated from my group. i had no idea where the action was, so i figured to just follow the helicopter to it. Balaclava'd Cops (what a scary fucking sight)were letting people into Namesti Miru, but not out- freaky shit. I decided to go to the convergence center instead. How the few hundred people were able to negotiate their way out of Namesti Miru is beyond me. they had the attack dogs out at this point....the convergnence center was being shut down- the cops let people get there belongings and pack it up; oh, well, it lasted longer than i thought it would have. Down to the info center, to meet a few friends,and the stories are starting to come out of the police brutality of the people in jail- horrific shit-

Yeahy, something to celebrate- the meetings for the 28th are called off! That feels so good...Then We go down to a jail solidarity march at old town square, in front of all the tourists, and it actually was nice, a bit intimidating from all the riot cops, but a festive march that went over the Charles bridge and back, and people spoke, and it turned into a dance party, courtesy of one of the drum troops. At this time elsewhere in the city, cops are snatching anyone that looks like a protester off the street and arresting them for no specific reason...Fascists are lurking in the metro, and beating anyone who they don't like completly senseless. A group of four of us just missed getting thrashed, for as we were getting on the escalator down to the metro, a couple of hippies came up, barely able to walk, and covered in blood. "Fascists," was all they could say...

September 28, 2000. Living under the Gestapo now. Always looking over your shoulder - do i look straight enough? Many friends refuse to go outside even though they did nothing illegal these past days. i am completely uncomfortable walking down the street with any one who looks like a bit scruffy. Cops are walking into the info center now looking for people. Another jail solidarity march planned. People met in front of the Ministry where people are being held, and a big sit down takes place where 80 odd people get arrested, and face potential torture. It was hard to not cry seeing those people get carried away...the arrest count was now over 900- many were missing- two thirds of whom arrested were czech people, which is so fucked considering that there was no way in hell czech people made up two-thirds of the protest. they were systematically hunted, basically. We headed down to march again through the tourists, and to let everyone know what is going on in these prison's. The march was scary mainly 'cuz we were so out numbered, and that all these undercover cops dressed as punks were looking like they were gonna instigate something with the riot cops, as some people reported on the 26th. Fortunately, that didn't happen this time... genitalia torture, no water, kicked awake if one fell asleep, people denied medical care- and when a lot of them got medical care- the doctor's or nurse's- would join in the torturing...one women flew out of a 2nd story window during an interrogation,and broke her leg and hip,and fucked up her spine, broken fingers and broken arms were given out like candy. Plastic handcuffs (which people hopefully will campaign to outlaw), cut off the circulation of many, and did serious damage. Most people had all their money and valuable possessions taken. Some women had to take their clothes off in front of male cops and do random acts for their fucked-up entertainment, many random czech people who were on their way home from work and had nothing to do with the protests were arrested and tortured.... People screaming all night as cops would beat inmates in front of the other ones...the list goes on and on...most of the foreigners were given a 24 hour stamp on their passport to get the fuck out of Dodge, i mean Prague. Just enough time to NOT be able to talk to the press, even if you wanted to. Amnesty International would NOT get involved, because there was a riot. People occuppied one of there office's in greece, i believe, and used their fax machines and phone's to notify other human rights organisations! That was pretty inspiring...Late in the evening many people get let out, and how sweet it is to have friends back. A welcome home gathering takes place at the info center- some record what happend to them, others pass out...

September 29, 2000...Most people leave. It's too much... a lot of guilt for the people who want to go- there's still so much that needs to be done for the rest of the peopole inside...people are still missing...

i left prague, as well... and had to take some days off to process the craziness of it all... debates rage on whether protests should be violent, or nonviolent, and many people are inspired to plan more effective ways to get through riot police, and essentially have there voices heard for once. The city of Prague was speechless...

Through the up's and down's it was one of the most amazing weeks of my life...i will never forget the IMF/world bank protest for as long as i live... cheers to all the folk who dragged their cute butt's out there- you rock, crew! - keep chasing down those rainbow's, everyone... uncle stu-pot

S26 Prague
S26 Global Action Day