Union Square, San Francisco – May 1, 2009
High-end Union Square stores felt the wrath of a “black bloc” Friday night, just before nine p.m. That’s when, according to witnesses, a herd of about 50 protesters wearing black bandanas over their faces and cloaked in black hoodies tore through O’Farrell and Grant Streets, leaving havoc in their wake.
The group, police believe to be anarchists, may have splintered off from a May Day protest on immigration, before smashing at least 15 storefront windows in the Union Square shopping district. Debeers, Longchamp, Prada, Armani, Tumi, Guess and Montblanc were among the stores hit by the masked mob. Bystanders said the group shot paintballs and burned fake $100 bills while using bricks and sledgehammers to smash-in windows. Their message: down with capitalism.
The vandals may see their mission as successful, as employees of stores with smashed windows reported that sales, on Saturday, were slower than usual. Managers worried that the boarded up windows gave the impression that stores were closed or under construction.
The dissidents’ “black bloc” approach relies on the premise of revolutionary, anarchist street-action. The “black bloc” encourages participants to engage in direct action against the forces of corporate and state repression. Dressing in black with their faces and heads covered makes identifying individual participants nearly impossible. Zapatista rebels in Chiapas are known for using this technique. Thus far, its been successful in San Francisco: police have no suspects and have made arrests related to the anarchist outburst.
