DKS Online -- Outside the Garden: The 2004 Republican National Convention

Hello, freedom

2004-09-06T01:33:00.000-04:00

Out. Free. Home.

Good to say, good to feel. I have learned something new, recently, however. Our conditions, although inhumane and downright hell-ish, are nothing compared to the way people at the FTAA rallies in Miami (Nov. 2003) were treated.

But the story will still be told.

Thanks for everyone's constant support.

Please, please, please, check out the stories/photos running on Tuesday at http://stater.kent.edu. Don't check it out for me or even for yourself - read it for the people in Miami; read it for the people in New York.

These are stories that need to be told. These are things that should never happen again.

Thank you all, especially Stater staff, my family and Pat & Nick. Now let's get the story out.

Club Med it ain't...

2004-09-03T01:16:00.000-04:00

Again, a big thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are safe and sound here in good ole northeast Ohio. We arrived at Akron/Canton airport around 7 p.m.

Mayor Bloomberg said Pier 57 is not supposed to be Club Med. He describes the conditions accurately with his statement. Beth and I will detail why in our stories next Tuesday.

Also, as a matter of policy, and to clarify to anyone who thinks otherwise, unless you use bad language, hate speech or post a libelous statement, we do not censor you from posting comments on this blog. Be good!

-Nick

BETH IS BACK!!!

2004-09-02T03:35:00.000-04:00

She's here at 3:30 a.m. More later.

Nick

'Guantanamo Hudson'

2004-09-02T02:48:00.000-04:00

It's weird to be "the story," especially when I'm usually the one doing the reporting. I have been free of the NYPD for the past eight hours. How delicious freedom tasted when I left that downtown prison.

Though a lot of the focus of this story shines upon me and Beth, please remember there are 1,700 people detained there, many, I believe, unlawthfully.

As soon as we get Beth out of jail (as of 3 a.m. still there, as far as I know), we will co-ordinate an amazing story, looking inside the beast that was NYPD, Pier 57 and the treatment of protest groups (and regular folk who were rounded up.) My experiences for that 22 hours in police custody are by far some of the most defining of my life up to this point.

I am very tired, but am safe and here back in our hotel. I really, really hope Beth comes back soon. I understand what she has gone through and she really needs to be on the otherside where she belongs.

Nick
Detainee, journalist

Headaches in NYC

2004-09-02T00:35:00.000-04:00

Nick got out of custody about 7, i saw him a little after 8. The look on his face was one I soon won't forget. The grime that was on the floor at Pier 57 took to him like dusting of powdered sugar on an elephant ear at the fair. Beth is still in police custody, without her meds. Nick (who hasn't slept in more than 36 hours) and I are going down to get Beth out of police custody tonight. We are currently speaking to lawyers to get her out. I am kicking myself because I did not contact lawyers today to get Nick out. I feel like a heel. We have a care package with food, water and other goodies for Beth.
Thanks all for the help, thoughts and comments are appreciated and warm and fuzzy

-Pat

Only one to come out of this unscathed

2004-09-01T02:46:00.000-04:00

So today was rather eventful. 2 marches, countless police officers and protestors, 2 Daily Kent Stater reporters in police custody.
Earlier today there was a march that started outside the World Trade Center site. This was supposed to be a march to Madison Square Garden where a "die-in" would take place. This is where demonstrators would drop to the ground and pretend to be dead, sometimes representing others who have died. The march started from the WTC site and police stopped it about 3/4 of a block later. They blocked off the road and let certain media professionals into the scene to photograph and report. Others, though, they kept outside and did not allow entry based on their press passes. They were NOT recognizing all media badges like they said they would in an interview with the National Press Photographer's Association. I was livid. So were Beth and Nick. It was a blatent lie.
We left the useless struggle, focusing our energy on the growing mass of people at Union Square. The mood from two days ago had faded from facilitating to relatively bitter and stifiling. They arrested the WTC marchers and then moved to surround Union Square. Overall, the A31 streetparty (see a31.org) happened at Union Square, not MSG. Cops swarmed and blocked the march. I jumped out just as the dreaded orange fencing came in to corral the detainees. Nick and Beth were in the thick of it all and got stuck. Of course their press passes got them nowhere, but the TV guys were let out.
It looks as if were spending another day in NYC, since I'm the only one left, I've got to bail them out. I'd hate to think what would happen if we all got arrested. I can somewhat relate to those anti-police demonstrators. It's not the fact that they are authority figures, its the fact that they lied and didnt even try to accommodate the press, or even be friendly to us.
When I got to the hotel I dropped my photos in the system and went to the bar for a drink. A nice guy named Dave from Boston bought me a shot and let me bum a smoke. We talked for about an hour about what was what and how the RNC runs. He brought up the interesting notion that Secret Service and general high ranking police usually act the same, like they're runing off the same CPU.I don't know if I agree, but it is true that they act like every morman I've ever known. oh well.
Good luck to Nick and Beth, if you're reading this Nick, your mother called.

signing off
-Pat
a free man

M&Ms, protests and heavy exercise

2004-08-30T23:33:00.000-04:00

Moment of the day:

I traveled via the subway to Times Square. Not once, not twice, but three times (almost by organization, it seemed), three men made an annoucement. Man No. 1 wanted money for a high school football team. He peddled M&Ms (only a dollar.) The other two wanted money because they were homeless. Quite sad.

Otherwise, it was a rather slow day.

Read Beth's story about the protest march near the United Nations. Police, three troopers deep, surrounded the park the demonstrators gathered in. As the speeches ended and the groups assembled to march, a strange, heavy energy filled the air. For a while I thought we were moments from a trouble--way too many police marched by in riot gear. Thankfully this did not happen.

How anyone in this city gains weight is beyond me. I've hoofed it all around here, sweat dripping from my face, arms and neck--not a pleasant sight. Without a car, it's public transportation, and when you don't use that, it's your two feet. In the case of the march from the United Nations, I ran up and down, in and out, through and out of the crowd, shooting every conceivable angle, every interesting-looking person. (there were plenty of those.)

-Nick
10 lbs. lighter, I swear

Geraldo, why not me?

2004-08-30T02:35:00.000-04:00

This will be brief.

Today was long, but an amazing experience to witness as a young journalist.

Never have I been surrounded by such a large mass of humanity. The energy in the air today is indescribable. Part county fair, part parade march, part a bunch of crazy activists getting together, the area around Madison Square Garden became a rallying point for every conceivable group known to protest.

I broke off from Pat and Beth to various rallying points along 7th Avenue.

Check out my very novice video of these groups on the Stater's Web site.

I met quite a few people from Ohio. Almost every time I walked up to a random person to talk, he or she would have a connection to Ohio.

Though I didn't make it on to MSNBC, CSPAN or Fox News (Geraldo, where art thou?), I probably made it onto nearly every local and international outlet in the country. I've never seen so many cameras, boom mics and well-polished TV journalists.

I also became quite the road warrior journalist. My digital camera doubled as an audio recorder for interviews. As I scribbled down notes, my camera ran. And as I finished my notes, I flipped it around and took video. I guess this is a part of the convergence of journalism. We learn how to use different media. It's something...

But I am tired. The chants of the protestors still remain in my head. I hope the music stops soon.

-Nick
Converged journalist extraordinare

Cold pizza and vanilla frappucinos

2004-08-30T02:30:00.000-04:00

168 Starbuckses (what IS the plural os Starbucks?) in Manhattan, and not one open at midnight. Bah.
I'm not sure where to even begin about this day. Craziness.
Woke up reluctantly at 8:30 a.m. and we were on the road by 9:30. And by on the road, I mean hoofing it to the site of the action, which was kind of a hike.
We arrived at a large press corral that was about two blocks from where I was supposed to meet my source. We signed in, crowded around a small stage and waited for the "press conference" to begin. As I waited, bored and wanting some action, ahead of me I saw a very familiar-looking man in a red hat. Scruffy face. Jolly, liberal belly.
Michael Moore.
I'll admit, I was a smidge star struck. I got some shots of him and tried to listen intently to the speakers the preceeded him, but really, I just wanted to hear Michael Moore. So sue me.
His speech was brief, satrical and perfect, in my opinion. He opened with, "We're all here because we're happy." What a great opener.
Before the press conference ended, I split from Pat and Nick and headed a few blocks over to meet Tim. I was feeling a bit disgruntled because it didn't look as if I would be seeing any more Kent people that day, which was not good for my story.
However, life is ca-razy, and five other Kent State people joined up with us for the protest. We talked, I got info and we waited for the march to start behind a group of drummers and a massive green dragon who would periodically scream "Raaaaaaar, I want some GOP to eat." Beautiful.
After waiting a very long time, the march got going, and I was able to see these crazy cats in action. Along with the drummers, the dragon was spewing Beastie Boys and Outkast, which made it all the more fun for the dancing protestors in the street. I won't lie--I bobbed my head from time to time.
At one point, Pat and Nick somehow found us and the three of us plus Tim split off to go check out Union Square, the official unofficial end of march spot. Contrary to rumor, nothing was happening. We heard that things were going down in front of Madison Square Garden.
Sure enough, someone had set fire to the dragon and the police had closed part of the street, herding all of the protestors into a small area in front of MSG. We became caught up in all of this, and when I couldn't get out, I decided to call my mother and tell her to turn on C-Span. I'd seen all of the C-Span cameras above me, so I had her coach me as to what was happening and where to go. At one point, I walked in front of a camera man and heard my mother scream "Oh my God! You're on C-Span!" My first national news cameo. Fantastic.
We then decided to head back to the hotel to regroup and work on stories.
(Side note: We have the TV on in our room and I just saw myself on Fox News. You've got to be kidding me.)
While in the room, Nick ran to Best Buy and while he was gone, Tim called me to tell me that massive arrests were happening in Times Square. Cheesy journalism movie-style, Pat and I were out of the room and across town in a flash. In TS, we saw a lot of the familiar bright green Legal Observer hats and nearly got arrested when we got in the NYPD's way. What we missed when we were herded across the street, I was told, is that cops herded a large group of people into an orange mesh pen and arrested them all. I found a woman crying because her husband had been arrested and they had been shopping in the store adjacent to the intersection.
After that, we saw some Columbia journalism students hounding delegates, who were attending Broadway shows. Now, for some reason, the delegates were all given bright red New York Times tote bags, which turned them into the ultimate target for demonstrators to jeer at and chase. I won't even go into the fact that it upsets me that those totes were NY Times.
At one point, Pat and I huddled in with a bunch of other reporters and camera crews around an unfamiliar-looking man as he fought with the over-zealous Columbia journalism students. Turns out he's from Geraldo. That explains why I just saw myself on Fox News. Huh.
After milling around TS for a while, Pat and I headed back to the hotel to try to make our respective deadlines. Nick and I went across the street to a Korean internet cafe to write and send our stories. What started out as a one-hour stop turned into a three-hour deadline scramble. Two stories later, my brain hurts.
After that, I came back and showered because, well, protestors are sweaty and smelly and I was, too. Pat and I then headed out to get some frozen coffee beverages and now, it's time for bed.
I'm sure I'm missing things but damn, I'm tired. This day was so crazy and amazing that I almost completely forgot that it was my 19th birthday. What a way to spend it, eh?

--Beth (posted by Nick, until she signs up to blogspot)

PBS-the electrical tape files

2004-08-30T01:32:00.001-04:00

So my first blog where I am not under the influence of Korean food. Welcome to my garbeled head of thoughts.
I was star struck for the first time today. I've photographed bands I admire, actors I enjoy, and politicians I disagree with but I've never felt the driving urge I felt today when I met this guy. I was on a very congested 7th Avenue, trying to catch my breath through the extensive mass of humanity, when I recognized his hair and slight features. James Nactwey, the founder of VII photo agency and prolific photojournalist, was not 10 feet in front of me.
"Holy crap, that's James Nactwey," I said.
"Who?" asked Beth.
I realized that I was star struck by a man who nobody else really knows. That's ok, I felt privileged to be able to shake his hand and tell him that I respect his work. Respectable handshake, too.
I also ran into a guy who really didn't fit in.
The guy in question stuck out like a show poodle in a junk yard--black suit, styled hair, mirror-shine shoes and a walk that seemed three beats off from the protest march.
After watching him raise his fist in the air and have his photo taken with the marchers ("hey get my picture with these guys") I approached the guy (Zeke Roeser) with some questions. He wasn't a protestor (surprise) but actually a law student at Fordham University and actually a Republican. But the protest didn't bother him that much ("It is what it is") and it was all in good fun. I think his photo will say a lot. (click her to see it: http://www.stater.kent.edu/blogphoto1.jpg)
NYC is a hot city. Hot and sunny in the afternoon and muggy and oppressive at night. On the plus hand, the funk of my brown All Media art supplies shirt with the rhino on it has a glorious funk to it.
Nick and Beth disagree, I think, but what do they know about funk?
I don't know if I mentioned it, but the sheer mass of humanity I was in the middle of today was beyond words. I have never seen so many people in one place before in my entire life. I wasn't able to decide if it was amazing or horrifying, but it was extreme any way you look at it.
Well, I'd like to sleep, so please keep checking the site and the blog, we've all put a lot of work into this.
Much thanks
-Pat Jarrett
photojournalist

New York, New York!!

2004-08-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

It only took about an hour to fly from Akron/Canton to New York.

We were welcomed, in a half-hearted manner, by an official New York City greeter, though I think her smile was genuine. Signs everywhere in LaGuardia Airport welcomed us to the city.

Outside, Beth, Pat and I eventually tracked down a cab. This is my first true experience in
a taxi. It was clean, smelling only of cheap leather.

Off to the city... I'm glad the cabbie knew where we were going and it seemed like he didn't take us on the fare. Driving through the city, I had no idea where we were. Both pedestrians and cabbies drive boldly here. We weaved in and out of traffic at speeds that made me slightly nervous. But we made it safely to our hotel.

We're several blocks away from Madison Square Garden, where most of the convention activities will take place. It takes maybe five minutes to reach the Garden.

NYPD are here in force, especially in areas where there are a lot of people. Police have not shut down the roads around the Garden yet. Tomorrow several surrounding streets will be closed.

The three of us spent the day getting acclimated with the city and talking with some students from Kent State who will protest tomorrow.

We also made a trip to Ground Zero. Protestors, police and media surrounded the fences around the World Trade Center site. Upon an informal count in my head, I think there were more media there than protestors or police. Beth will have a story related to some of things we saw there on Monday.

After a walking tour of the area (and an introduction to the subway system), we came back to the hotel to work, then wonder the streets. We ended up at a rather tastey Korean food place. The menus alternated between Korean and English. Our meals were good.

Tomorrow, United for Peace and Justice (and many other groups) will march through Manhattan sometime in the morning. (Times have shifted several times.)

Pat and Beth are sleeping as I write this. Pat's last words: "Korean food...so tired."

Indeed.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day.

Start spreading the news...

2004-08-24T15:26:00.000-04:00

Four days until we leave for New York City.

Stater reporters Beth Rankin, Pat Jarrett and I will travel to the Big Apple later this week to cover the Republican National Convention. Rather than report it from the inside, as literally hundreds of other news outlets will, we will be out on the streets with Kent Student Anti-Racist Action. This campus group will join hundreds of thousands of other protesters. Some estimate as many as a million demonstrators will march through New York City in the coming week.

I read a report in Rolling Stone about the planned protests. A group called RNC Not Welcome "hopes to make the Republicans’ lives hell for as long as they’re in New York." Members from that group will hound delegates wherever they go.

Some fun stats:

- 35,000 city police officers on the streets with help from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security
- 2,509 delegates and 2,344 alternate delegates
- 15,000 members of the media
(Sources: Rolling Stone, Republican National Convention site)

I'll post some more background information later. Checkout the Rolling Stone story and the convention's Web site .