One of Bluestem's young friends tipped me off yesterday that one of the speakers at this morning's Tea Party Against Amnesty, organized in Minnesota by Ruthie Hendrycks, would have an interesting message for the fans of Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform (MINN-SIR) and their fellow travelers.
DJ Danielson of I Don't Hate America was intrigued by the tip as well and so joined me at the state capitol. Together, we watched "Robert Erickson" of Minneapolis rally the anti-immigration part of the crowd with his objections to the mass invasion of America by immigrants who brought disease and took away jobs. They stayed with him as he called for a mass deportation of these invaders.
To Europe.
Most of the MINN-SIR supporters were slow to catch the satire, and so the cheering from that side of the crowd took a while to subside. As they realized they'd been punked, they stood in a cold, stunned silence, while the 30 or so counter-protesters urged Columbus to go home.
Unfortunately, some of the pro-MINN-SIR audience made up for what they lacked in humor through the use of violence. Both Danielson and I saw middle-aged men attack young protesters, knocking one off a bike before he started throwing punches at aggressively shoving the young man. [ Update Nov 17: see second Youtube clip here for this incident end update]
Just as shocking was the reaction of the state police working the rally, who pushed back those being attacked, rather than those attacking the counter protesters.
Neither of us have ever witnessed violence at rallies and events we've attended in the past. The attacks formed a sharp counterpoint to Hendrycks' shrieked claims from the podium that MINN-SIR "patriots" had "respect" while the young protesters were rude.
[Update Nov. 16/17] Video footage here in new Bluestem post, Minn-SIR supporter assaults woman while Ruthie Hendrycks rants about "respect". The first video shows a MINN-SIR supporter poking and elbowing a young woman and pushing those who ask him to stop; the second clip in this post documents an assault on a young protester on a bicyclist.[end update]
More later as I process video and photos; Danielson was also taping the event and will be posting has posted his own footage at I Don't Hate America. (DJ's individual posts here, here, and here; fun stuff--head over a take a look).
More to come.
Update:
Twin Cities Indymedia adde more coverage in Anti-Racists Steal the Show at White Supremacist "Tea Party Against Amnesty".
Here's the YouTube:
Photo: MINN-SIR supporters and young pro-immigration reform supporters face off under the watch eye of state law enforcement. Photo by DJ Danielson.
Oh, Jeebus! I was there, & I just can't stop laughing- tears are coming out of the corners of my eyes- as I watch Robert! Down, down, damned foul- smelling race haters! Up! The Human Cause!
Billy
Posted by: Billy | Nov 14, 2009 at 05:31 PM
Amazing that so many republicans who feel that the government needs to step out of the "free" markets can rally around stricter immigration laws. The current immigration/work visa quotas are well below what the market can bear creating a false shortage and the resultant black market for labor. I guess when right wing xenophobia meets left wing union driven protectionism we can all come together to short change the nation.
Posted by: Govtmule | Nov 14, 2009 at 08:36 PM
Aside from Sue Jeffers, Ruthie Hendrycks (a GOP primary ticket against Pawlenty in 2006) and a speaker who will be running against Terri Bonoff for a MN Senate seat, I'm not sure if those in this particular rally can all be fairly labeled as Republicans. Indeed, the Constitution Party was the sponsor of the headline speaker.
Posted by: Sally Jo Sorensen | Nov 15, 2009 at 10:20 AM
This young man is my new hero. This brave act reminds me of the hippie saying "Never trust anyone over 30"... I'd have to update it to say "Never trust anyone over 30 to change the world." Just BRILLIANT.
Any idea how to contact him to say a huge THANK YOU?
Posted by: Lysergic Asset | Nov 16, 2009 at 01:05 PM
No, I don't know how to get a hold of him, since I only received a tip that "Robert Erickson" would have something interesting to say.
However, Indymedia Twin Cities might have an email address for him, since it received the text of his remarks via email.
Good luck.
Posted by: Sally Jo Sorensen | Nov 16, 2009 at 01:39 PM
It was indeed a clever - and gutsy - action. Much praise and many kudos. Creativity of this sort has been rather missing from efforts of late so that makes it doubly delicious to see.
But, um, one quibble with a previous comment: "Don't trust anyone over 30" wasn't a "hippie" saying (said the aging hippie). It came out of the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley in the fall of 1964 - which rather predates hippiedom.
"Do your own thing." Now THAT was a hippie saying. :-)
Posted by: LarryE | Nov 16, 2009 at 01:44 PM
Credit where due. The phrasing "We don't trust anyone over thirty" came from Jack Weinberg, who was indeed among the leadership of the UC Berkeley Free Speech Movement. Jack was, in fact, the person arrested on Sproul Plaza for trespass on October 1, 1964, and the more or less spontaneous protest where we surrounded the police car in which he was held was the tipping-point event that led directly to all of the sit-ins and strike actions - and eventual victory - that followed.
The line was a throw-away intended as a dismissive to a reporter who was pestering Weinberg, trying to get him to confirm false rumors that the FSM was controlled by powerful Communists. The point was that the students were running things, young people, not a bunch of old men in the Kremlin, but an SF Chronicle reporter latched onto it and ran it as an attack on the American Establishment.
Other activists, including Jerry Rubin, Paul Krassner and Abbie Hoffman among many, in turn seized on it for just that purpose, using it repeatedly because it provoked such a virulent reaction by the Powerful. In that sense, I suppose, it could reasonably be called a "Yippie" catch-phrase.
Weinberg is, last I heard, still alive and still raising hell. Thanks be to him and to the new generation of "Robert Ericksons" for having the guts to stand up in person for truth and justice.
Posted by: Graham Firchlis | Nov 16, 2009 at 10:48 PM
"Just as shocking was the reaction of the state police working the rally, who pushed back those being attacked, rather than those attacking the counter protesters."
This is the most important point of the entire article. The police are on the side of the violent extremists, not on the peaceful citizens.
That is the bigger threat here and this should spark and investigation as to why none of the violent extremists were not arrested for assault, why was it automatically assumed by the police that they were there to assist the violent extremists.
Posted by: Comrade Rutherford | Nov 17, 2009 at 06:54 AM
Wow! What a jackass. NO bravery there...he's just an idiot.
Posted by: Steve | Nov 17, 2009 at 08:36 AM
Talk about some huge brass ones! Bravo Mr. "Erickson."
Posted by: Gus | Nov 17, 2009 at 11:46 AM