Refuse Fascism Police
A protest movement out of New York City called Refuse Fascism is calling for weekly protests and marches to stop the Trump/Pence Regime from destroying the world. The first iteration was November 4th, and the second attempt was today. So far, the hoped for snowballing effect of gradually increasing crowds does not seem to be working, at least in San Francisco where the crowd of about 50 patiently listened to young speakers preaching to the choir.
The bizarre detail was the huge San Francisco Police Department presence at the event, almost outnumbering the protesters.
They were trying to look cool and unobtrusive, hiding away in the sycamore trees in Civic Center Plaza, but their presence was overwhelming. The real irony is that open drug dealing, needle injection, stolen goods bazaars, bicycle chop shops, and violent fights occur in the same spot on a daily basis, but the San Francisco Police Department manages to be invisible.
Where do these phantom forces usually hang out? Certainly not on the sidewalks of Civic Center unless there is a hint of an antifa protest, and then the military gear comes out.
On an individual basis, the SFPD can be pleasant, as they were in answering a number of questions for the wedding party above who were wandering through the protest site.
The Refuse Fascism movement has a website and they are planning another protest/march at the same time and place next Saturday at 2PM. It would be progress if there were more protesters and less police.
The bluish hues, the slant of the sun, reminds me that painters used to talk about "San Francisco light."
ReplyDeleteLooks like tons of overtime for the police, and for taxpayers (all of us).
But, the pictures are pretty.
Glad you like the pretty blue pictures, Willie. And yes, looks like a lot of useless overtime, which is nothing new in our fair city.
ReplyDeleteI've become resigned to the reality that a genuine mass movement always has a fringe element that usually employs this typography. When anything real, strong, meaningful, is happening, they remain fringe. When other activity diminishes, they keep embers alive -- not necessarily healthily, but still alive.
ReplyDeleteGuess the cops function similarly, in inverse proportion ... there were hardly any visible cops at the women's march ...
Dear Jan: Great observation about this particular fringe and its typography, not to mention the SFPD's inverse math.
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