Boston's Anti-Capitalist Festival of Resistance No Business As Usual in Boston's Financial District
As part of the Mayday 2000 Global Day of Action, over 200 anarchists, environmentalists, workers, students, and assorted radical left activists descended on Boston's Financial District in a spirited and disruptive celebration against capitalism. Taking to the streets and bringing downtown traffic to a standstill, protesters made their way through the city, making stops at some of Boston's largest capitalist financial institutions, including the Boston Stock Exchange, and the headquarters of Fidelity Investments and Fleet Bank. Despite a fairly heavy police presence, protesters were successful in keeping control of the streets throughout the demonstration, with minimal confrontation or arrests.
At Fidelity Investments, protesters pushed past police lines and brought the "festival of resistance" inside the building, touching off minor skirmishes with police and brief panic on the part of security (who were forced to lock the doors and bring down the security gates after protesters were ejected). Continuing on through the financial district, a handful of anarchists managed to enter Boston Safe Deposit & Trust before police managed to seal off the entrance and the group was forced to leave. At about this time, someone involved with the Critical Mass bicycle ride was arrested for supposedly obstructing the police, and taken into custody. Angry protesters surrounded the police van demanding his release. Things started to heat up when a black bloc anarchist slashed the van's tire, leaving it entirely immobile. Out of nowhere an undercover cop grabbed another anarchist (who was accused of slashing the tire) and proceeded to arrest him. In response, a number of protesters attempted to make an unarrest, shoving the undercover into some newspaper dispensers. About eight uniformed police moved in and grabbed the same individual, pushing back the rest of the protesters. As tensions began to rise and a riotous situation looked likely, a member of the National Lawyers Guild negotiated with the police for the release of both individuals. In surprising move, the police agreed to release the two on the condition that we continued on with our march in relative peace. After this small victory, we finished off the demonstration in Government Center and listened to some anti-capitalist speakers.
As one of the world's largest centers of capital, Boston's financial institutions are responsible for managing more than $7 trillion. More mutual funds are traded here than in any other city in the world. The Boston Stock Exchange alone is the third largest in the U.S., and the fastest growing in the world. With this in mind, we made it our intention to have our anti-capitalist Mayday celebrations in the heart of Boston's financial district, bringing our resistance right to the very front doors of this city's financial ruling elite. Of course, this was only the beginning...