SF Black Bloc Speaks Out

THE BLACK BLOC has few friends. Cops, obviously, loathe the sable-clad anarchist types who've stomped through downtown San Francisco three times in the past three months, skirmishing with cops, spray painting the San Francisco Chronicle building, shattering windows (Old Navy, Starbucks, and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, among others) and causing at least $50,000 in property damage.

Pacifists and less radical elements of the antiwar movement say the rioters are tarnishing the movement's image and scaring away would-be supporters (see "Resist!," page 22). Stephen Zunes, a left-leaning associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, trashed the Black Blocers in the Chronicle last week, describing them as "nihilists" and "hoodlums" without a "political agenda."

Zunes's comments are typical. Most people seem to think the Black Bloc rioters are a pack of mindless hooligans. But that analysis is only half correct. Hooligans? Definitely. Mindless? No way. The four young shit-disturbers – three anarchists, one communist – I met at an anonymous and presumably unbugged location March 15 were witty and erudite. And they definitely have a political goal.

For the record, the bloc isn't a group or an organization, it's a tactic – one that dates back to the 1980s, when Molotov-hurling German autonomen (a loose network of leftist radicals) decided to don motorcycle helmets and dark clothes when battling the polizei.

At press time, war looks inevitable ... and so does a response. The Black Bloc participants I interviewed pledged to cause heavy damage the minute American ordnance begins raining down on Iraq. "Follow the fires," said one.

Bay Guardian: The San Francisco Police Department came down hard today; according to news reports, some 157 people were arrested. What went wrong for the Black Bloc?

Isaac, no age given*: SFPD was much more prepared than they have been in the past. But they haven't seen the last of it. When the war starts, they'll quickly find themselves on the defensive again.

Ahmed, 22: What happened today was, the cops tried to see what tactics worked, to split us up, to paralyze us, and to keep us from being on the offensive like we were before. I think that is great that that happened today. Because it's going to make us realize that we can't just march in the streets, we won't just be chanting, it's not just about going up to a Gap window and breaking it.

BG: Why are people so angry about this war?

I: It's not just about the war. The war is just one very small manifestation of how truly insane this world has gotten, where a handful of military leaders can do whatever they want around the globe with no repercussions or constraints. They can lie so much to the population; but at some point, it gets too absurd to stomach, [the claim] that Iraq really poses an imminent danger to the safety and well-being of people in San Francisco. For me, it's not so much about the war; it's more how fucked-up society is in general.

Nadia, 20: It brings up a lot of questions about why Bush wants this war to happen. What are they trying to hide? What are they trying to distract people from?

A: You don't want Hardball and Fox News to talk about the 20,000 layoffs that happened yesterday. You want to talk about, "Hey, we changed the name of french fries to freedom fries, because we're so great, and we're for freedom, and we hate the French."

Joe, 27: It's not just Black Bloc that's violent. We could never match the violence of society. The bottom line is, we live in a society where you have to fuck people over to achieve security for yourself. Black Bloc is about taking anger and directing it toward an enemy, a rational target.

I: During the whole Columbine incident, they were at a loss to explain why kids would have such anger and insane thoughts. But that's what their society is creating. We're trying to create a violence that is directed, pointed, rational, and has achievable goals.

N: It's not just about angry people on the rampage. It's about showing people we're not staying within their permitted streets [during marches]. That's no threat to them. It's about showing that we're a threat and we can be something more than Sunday picnickers.

BG: In your opinion, what would it take to get Bush to stop his war machine? What would it take to get the troops out of Kuwait?

J: The only thing that can threaten the U.S. is an enormously destabilizing domestic situation. On the night the U.S. goes to war, if there are riots in D.C. and New York City and L.A. and San Francisco – real riots, Cincinnati-style riots or L.A. '92-style riots – it severely impacts the ability for the U.S. to wage a war.... In the long term, those [riotous] situations will drain the resources of the U.S. To me, as Americans there's nothing else we can do. If they have to worry about keeping up the military occupation at home, it will drastically impact their ability to do it around the world.

BG: Best situation, what happens in the streets when the war commences?

A: I'm not participating in any breakaway/Black Bloc/whatever you want to call it to just go smash a window because I think that's going to stop a war. Obviously it's not. It's about creating so much chaos in this country that they cannot afford to be at war – where you have actual sabotage in the workplace or they have to have curfews or martial law in a number of cities. Going to war will escalate our position.

The night the bombing starts, there will be a lot of pissed off people in the streets, and I think that anger can translate to a lot of beautiful things.

I: The best situation [would be] that there are violent confrontations with the police that spill out into real working-class neighborhoods and gain a level of popular support that currently our breakaway marches don't have. Like we saw with the Rodney King thing here.

I don't know if the majority of people in this society are ready to drop their conventional beliefs at the drop of a dime and instantly realize the benefits and great fun that can be had by looting, street fighting with the police, and blocking major roads. To me, that would be an optimistic situation.

A: On the night the bombs start falling, there's going to be lots and lots of angry people on the streets and through examples and deeds and propaganda by deed, if you want to call it that, they'll see that there are tactics and tactical processes that can be used to attack and destroy targets – and I don't mean stores; I mean actual targets and power structures. We can actually do something, and it won't just be a rally, and it won't just be taking over the Bay Bridge and mass arrests.

I: I'd encourage the general population to remember that it's OK to be violent during a demonstration. We need people to support their Black Bloc troops.

N: When the bombs start dropping, there cannot and will not be business as usual.