March 22 -- 75,000 people marched through the streets of San Francisco to protest the latest attack on Iraq. Police presence was minimal for the permitted part of the march but breakaway marches, attended by thousands, lasted late into the night with more waves of arrests. Activists estimated hundreds more arrests for the day. Many of these people were picked out of the crowd, presumably identified as leaders by the cops, and beaten or violently dragged away to be arrested.

There was the usual array of pacifists and liberals at the rally today, but the feeling of militancy and disgust at Amerika was stronger than at past pre-bombing protests. Many people were indeed shocked and awed by Amerikan imperialism, and they were moved to do something about it. The strong sustained willingness of so many protesters to take to the streets in un-permitted marches, risking arrest and police brutality, reveals the increasing militancy of the demonstrations.

MIM distributed a special photocopied war edition of MIM Notes with a statement opposing the imperialist war in Iraq. Because of the high cost of photocopying we asked people for donations to help us make more copies. We were able to raise close to $100 in the first few hours of the demonstration (before it got too loud to ask for money), covering our costs for the upcoming week. Many people gave more than $1 even though we just asked for change, thanking the MIM activists for being out in the streets doing the work to help educate people. And people standing on the sidewalk watching the march were also eager to read our analysis.

Our banner hanging at our literature table, which read "No Imperialist War in Iraq," received much media coverage because a small group of about 3-5 pro-war counter demonstrators stood nearby generating more media interest than the rally itself. This disproportionate interest in the insignificant pro-war demonstrators shows the overall media bias. Many stations including CNN, NBC, CBS and KRON stationed trucks at the rally for the entire day. While MIM did not get a chance to watch the media coverage today, we are certain it continues in the vein of other corporate media stories about anti-war rallies, downplaying their significance and playing up illegal actions to make the protestors look like hooligans. One MIM activist asked an NBC reporter if they were going to station their truck on the sidewalk for the whole protest, hoping they would be convinced to leave so we could take over their spot for our literature table. He argued that the mainstream media is needed by the movement because it is helping spread the word, a point that MIM strongly disagrees with. Bad coverage is not better than no coverage at all. Towards the end of the rally protesters surrounded the NBC truck chanting "tell the truth." Cops in riot gear moved in to "protect" the truck and its broadcaster.

Throughout the past few days of protests bicyclists have figured prominently in the demonstrations, shutting down traffic, moving quickly to wherever protesters on foot needed support, and relaying information between groups of protesters. Last night one group of bicyclists was stopped at a red light (following traffic laws) when riot pigs surrounded the group. Many were cited for not having lights on their bikes after being violently pulled off their bikes and cuffed. Those with lights asked why they were being detained. After no response for some time, one cop finally said that they were "disrupting the flow of traffic." Yes, they were stopped at a stop light. Today police added to their fascist crackdown on legal demonstrators stating: "Anyone riding a bicycle on Market Street will be arrested." At one intersection people were violently thrown off their bikes and arrested once again.

At the rally a lawyer from Bay Area Cop Watch announced that a class action lawsuit is being filed against the SF Police Department for their conduct during the protests which has included wrongful arrests, brutality and harassment. The past days have already cost the city an estimated $500,000 per day in cop overtime (1) and uncounted loss of business to the financial district. The lawyer promised to add to these expenses with this lawsuit.

With Sunday being a day off for the majority of activists, direct action will be resumed at 7am Monday morning. We encourage people to come down and stay plugged in as this struggle to put pressure on the u$ government to stop its imperialist invasion of Iraq continues.