More APEC eyewitness accounts

#1 mat x at UBC.Monday and Tuesday (Nov 24-25, 1997)

went to UBC campus Monday afternoon to set up in Demo Ville/Tent City. And came just in time to miss Mr.Activist/Ringleader/CSIS up my ass-boy (Jaggi Singh) get arrested for the second time in a day.

so we missed that. it was dark. a few people were sitting under the rain tarp, huddled by a fire, remnanats of food around. I wondered where everyone was, there were at least 60 tents.

they said it was all over, but the woman with the walkie talkie was still talking into it to someone else and reporting that now at this flag pole in the soon-to-be security zone people were refusing to move. by 6pm it was to become part of the security zone. jaggie and two others got dragged away just before we got there. it wasn't quite 6 yet and now more people were risking arrest and 60 or so others were protecting them by forming a ring around them.

that's where I want to be. me and brother rushed over there (gee UBC is a big campus). and we saw about 25 bicylce yellow -unifomrmed cops and 40 or so black-unifomed. and some trench coat CSIS boys and media media media.

this was the theme for the next day. media. media media. international media

we got there and stood outside the huge fence that had been constructed all over campus and delineated the perimeter of the protected security zone. found friends, got some info.

then throwing caution to the wind we decided to enter the soon to be security zone and join the other protesters in there by the flag pole...

it was bloody cold, and it got colder, standing in cold, wet, muddy grass. no it wasn't raining or snowing, but I swear standing in one spot for over an hour was chilling to the bone. my activist will was ill prepared for the weather wearing me down...

we formed a ring around the flag pole and sand songs and chanted and even broke into aerobics to keep warm. jumping jacks with chants...

around 7pm they brought a hundred more cops to arrest us and that was scary. so many cops. they outnumbered us and then some...!!!!!

scary, sooo scary. and dogs. lots of police dogs...

we finally left when they said they'd arrest us. and only those who wanted to be arrested stayed. the cops for some reason only dragged them out and dumped them back out at the entrance... we all cheered. they sealed up the security zone. we left for tent city. for meetings and hotchoclate and pizza int he sub building....

in the meeting we planned out the next evening's events. which had been already planned. we just broke off into diff. groups and adopted certain roles. they was easily a hundred people at the meeting in the sub building... we had : peacekeepers/marshalls, mock riot police, jeer leaders, and others...

the plan was: ETAN (east timor alert network) people would put themselves on the line at 9am and try to get arrested. their mission was to bust through and try to arrest Suharto himself. yikes. civil disobedience and get arrested is all they could do really.

this then the big march at 11am would have speeches and song and dance. with students trucked in from all over BC. over 3000 kids. woo-hoo... we marched around UBC. did some street theatre at this one plaza, and a die-in!!! (I took a lot of pictures. my bro was one of the mock riot police. I was in the suicide squad to be arrested).

then we left that and went to the gates of hell themselves, where we had been the night before. a line of peacekeeps blocked the road and remined everyone that passed undernearth their linked ams that only those who wanted to get arrested should go past them.... all the brave souls passed under then so did every one else. when I lokked behind me from my spot in front of the gate, they was thousands of students!!! what a crazy good feeling...

then the carnage happened. so many cops. so much pepper spray, just like CS gas...

we got all 3000 people to sit down/crouch down (in a muddy field) and only those standing up to be arrested -- aprocahed the fence with the hundreds of cops... the media and everyone got tangled in the front, and things got exciting when some of us protesters started ripping down their make-shit fence (chain link fence attached only with plastic ties.) came down so easily///

the cops went beserk. the fence peeled off. the pepper spray went spurting up into the air and straight into people's faces... media and protesters were spalsed with deadly pepper spray. I got a whole bunch in my face and inhaled in afterwards. it hung int he air like a fine mist. it burned people's faces, left huge red burn marks... and water supplied began to be collected and burn stations set up... no every ne covered their faces. not to protect their identity. but to protect themselves from pepper spray... I coverted my toque into a balaclava which covered my face except for eye holes... people kept calling me marcos all day (as in ezln/zapatista sub-commandante marcos)...

after a few hours of this a stalemate developed. they refused to arrest anyone anymore. so we changed tactics. we decided to block all the roads, and not let the motor cade of dignitaries out, not let them leave the campus...

this plan worked well, and kept us busy trying to keep enough people blocking four important roads...

the cops got more desparate and underhanded. they seized all leaders with warning. clobbered anyone with a walkie-talkie or megaphone and took these implements of communication away.. smarter tactics...

it was a waiting game and a guessing one. we didn't have clear ideas of what they were doing or how best to coordinate ourselves....we didn't know where form they'd leave and where we had enough. all we had were people on bikes as our communication between points. which worked.

word came down that a far away blockade needed more people. I felt bad about leaving all my friends behind and wandering to some unkjnown far away post where there was to be noa ction, I left anyway... and we ran near the ned, and past some cops who warned us:

don't go down this road unless you want to get hurt...

don't go there unless you want the first shot...

we were puzzled but started running down the road towards where the blocvkade was supposed to be. then we ran into the riot cops. holy shit!!!!

make me so scared. oh my god. a hundred of them. marching and beating their batons on thewir shields making a very scary noise and we were just a foot or som away from. some people in our group were crying and asking what's going on? I', like, we're getting our heads beat-in... it's inevitable. we outraced the riot squad to the blockade. and there was a hundred cops in uniform (yellow and black) they let us throught heir lines after some negotiating... and we joined our beleagured friends who totally crying and screaming. they had just been sprayed and thrented with violence if they didn't m,ove. holy shit. this is where everything was gonna go down and we're gonna die!@!!

I stood in the front line and linked arms with my friend aNj hold who was crying from pepper spray and this girl next to me was shivering with cold and fear, and crying her eyes out. I tell ya, it was fucking scary. the cops were grinning at us and threatening to use the pepper spray on us again... I was fucking scared. It thought "this is it. this my last moment"

but it was not to be. almost. what was weird was that I thought we were blockading the road the motor cade was going to be using, but after we got there and joined the ranks the motor cade passed behind the cops. on the very road we travelled to get to this blockade where the riot cops were...

kendrick, my brother, came and joined us a short few minutes after we got there, -- he had ran all the way when he heard that people had been pepper sprayed... but he was lost and confused (like us all) on this campus... he had strayed onto the road and right in the middle of the motorcade... he was looking for the blockade... but all he heard was:

"get down on the ground now. right now! freeze!"

kendrick was trying to explain that he was bringing water for pepper spray victims when he had a gun put to his head.

he was let go and joined us soon after... he was crying too...

after some time we abandoned the blockade nad went back to tent city to pack up our tent and stuff...

there was supposed to be a rally downtown at Oppenheimer park (in front of our house!), and then a march to the art gallery for another. but we were so busy blockading roads that silly rallied meant nothing to us. why listen to speeches when there was action needed rightnow. that's my philosphy.

we left campus. after saying good bye to some friends who were just dazed. wandering in the SUB building. just shell shocked. a crazy day of frenzy. some headed to the student pub for relaxing pints of ale.

me and bro and bob decided to go to the art gallery to see what was going on there. followed by films at the cinema teque with ART against apec fils and stuff. I just wanted to go home and either, a) sleep b) soak in a bath c) eat some food.

so tired from sitting/crouching the mud/sitting on roads/ not moving much so hungry from not eating anything all day, except bumming cigarettes.

so tired form not sleeping. instead of sleeping int he tent with all the others... wandered with some friends around the cmapus at night bumping into cops cops cops. don't go there unless you wanna get shot.... fucking police state....

slept 3 hours...

what a day. what a crazy couple of days...

god bless,

hope you found it entertaining. apparently it made national news... love ya

matx

From hatdow@vcn.bc.ca Tue Nov 25 21:08:47 1997
From: kendrick mauser hatdow@vcn.bc.ca

Hey Guys 'n Gals

This is message to tell everyone about the Van. APEC Summit. Last Sunday we had aprox 4-5000 people on a protest. Today we had another (the last day of APEC) we had another 2-3000 people downtown, speeches, theatre, foood...

My brother and I weren't at this one we were at UBC where the summit actually was. The students planned several events. One was the general arrest of General Suharto (about 1/2 doz. got arrested). The afternoon was the BIG ONE.

Our protest was led by the "Jeer Leaders" who had pompoms ad bright colours and they led us chants. Myself I was part of the second wave, "The Mock Riot Police" who carried bike helmets,(or viking helmets depending) we carried green plastic garbage can lids with corporate logos painted on them. We had a march (est. at 5,000 peo.) which ended at the library were upon one protester (dressed i a really nice suit) spoke out FOR APEC. Saying that we have no rights in the "Disney-fication" of our culture, and our rights. At which point We (the Mock Riot Police) would knock ALL the protesters with our paper batons. At which point they would all die. The "Die-In" was amazingly successfull.

Then those who were doing the (real) Civil Disobedience would approach the (real) fence to get arrested. Unfortunately the (real) fence was hastily attached the day before with plastic ties.

And so the fence fell down!

That's when the police PEPPER Sprayed the crowd! Media, bystanders, EVERYONE! After seeing the effect of pepper spray on some of my friends i quickly got involved with the water brigade who brought water to wash the spray from their eyes.

After seeing that this was only going to get worse the crowd dispersed into three groups. One for each exit. We would in effect fence IN the APEC leaders. I was on the North exit, where we were laying on the groud. My brother was on the South exit. I got word that the South exit was ambushed by te cops and that everyone was pepper sprayed so, Myself and two others ran over to the South exit to bring water.

Unfortunately we took one too many shortcuts and ended up behind the police barricade!?! All I saw was a BIG dog and an even BIGGER GUN!!!

I was forced to the ground with hands over my head, all i could do was repeat that i was only there to provide relief for the pepper sprayed victems. We were eventually let go but we were too late to help anyone from burning pain of the spray.

When i finally got there my brother told me that the RIOT police had been marching to the South exit banging their shileds. The RCMP cops (in front of riot police) approached the seated protesters and told them if they don't move they will not be charged but they WILL be beaten!!!! As they stood to comply, and leave, THEY WERE PEPPER SPRAYED!!!

In total over 50 people arrested for crimes ranging from miscief to breach of peace. A civil rights lawyer, and a mother and her child were also pepper sprayed!

I can't believe that the police could act out in such a way against non-violent protests!

It's been one hell of a long day. I want everyone to take care, and remember Pepper spray can be diluted in water to lessen the burning but it can cause permenent injuries!

Kendrick.

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