Friday, May 1, 2009

May Day Immigration Rally in Union Square (NYC)

I just got back from the Immigration Rally/Protest in Union Square (NYC). It was still going on when I left, but the rain seemed to be thinning out the crowd. My guess it that at its height there were a little over 400 people there.

The crowd was pretty diverse. As you would expect with this sort of rally, there were a lot of pro immigration people. A half dozen or so pro-Palestinian protesters were there as well. Socialists abound, even a small group of revolutionary socialists who wanted to violently over throw the government. I saw one guy there with an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) hat who was walking around to see what it was all about.

Before getting into the messages and signs, a few people deserve some special mention. Most of the people I talked to where friendly even after it became apparent I disagreed with what they believed. We were still able to have civilized conversations. That included the militant socialists, immigrants from a number of countries, and the pro-Palestinian groups. As I said, pretty much everyone. Everyone except this lady:

From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


She just kept yelling at me and calling me names. She also hit me in the leg with her cane a couple of times, though not in a way that seemed she was trying to hurt me. I think the 'assault' was accidental as she was just very riled up and did not notice what she was doing. What did I say that was so provocative; I challenged the person's view that the United States flag represented oppression, who was standing next to her. The guy standing next to her was Puerto Rican, and though it was hard to understand her through the yelling I believe she was as well. Someone got a piece of it on video and he said he would mail it to me. When/if I get it I will put it up.

There were two other guys who I think were trying to intimidate me. In the picture below it is the guy in the front left looking at his phone and the guy on the right with sunglasses on. The second picture is a better shot of the second guy.

From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


I do not know what the second guy's name is, but he knows mine. He asked me what my name was and the website that I was going to post the photos I was taking on, so I told him. He even asked me to make sure he got the spelling right, and I confirmed that he had. That was before I took a picture of him, or at least before I took a picture of him with conscious effort. He must not of liked the way I was walking around taking pictures of what I saw because at some point he and his buddy ran up on me to take my picture. It was kind of funny, I did not understand what they were doing at first. I saw the camera out of the corner of my eye and though I was about to ruin one of their shots. With that in mind, I turned quickly to not block it. The same thing then happened with his friend a few seconds later and I reacted the same way thinking the same thing. As they ran to surround me shoving their camera's in my face I finally figured it out. So I let them take a picture of me. I even asked if they wanted to take a picture with me. The guy with glasses took a swipe at my camera when I tried to get a close up of him the same way he did to me. He mumbled some other 'stuff' at me, but I really did not care.

I am not going to be intimidated by people like that. What does he think he is going to do, blow my cover? If I wanted to be anonymous I would not have named the site BERMAN Post. I would not have my full name on every post I write. I would not include my history on the site (Berman Post: Introducing the Berman Post and Berman Post: Introduction - Andrew Berman). I would not have pictures of myself on here. Last but not least, I would not have told him who I am and where he could find my site. There is something seriously wrong with this country when people are afraid to let their identity be know for fear of reprisal like 'Norm' (Berman Post: Mark Levin And Neil Cavuto Interview 'Norm' (Recipient of Susan Roesgen's Skewed Tax Day Tea Party Protest Interview)).

Anyways, I figure him and his buddy will read this, so this next part is aimed right at them. Post a response in the comments, let all of us know who you are and how to contact you. Feel free to present your side.

On to the messages and signs. Most of the signs were what you would expect. They were for more workers right, lax immigration, and so on. A few were pretty out there. Here are my favorite out there pictures.

From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


There were a lot of flags at the event, and from a lot of different countries. People were showing up with bundles of flags to sell them to people in the crowd. There were also a lot of duplicate signs. From what I could tell, the organizer or some group brought hundreds of the same exact sign to hand out to people as they showed up.

Let me show you some of the better characters I came across. I did not get to speak to all of them, but the ones I did seemed to be enjoying life. Nice, friendly people.

From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


Let me finish it off with the media attendance. There were a lot of cameras, and not all of them had visible logos. I took pictures of the ones I could, and one of the organizers let me take a picture of the media sign in list. Someone who has a bit more time then me can cross reference the list of media outlets that showed up to this roughly 400 person event with those that covered the 12,500 Tax Day Tea Party protest in NYC (Berman Post: NYC Tax Day Tea Party). The list may not be all inclusive.

From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


From 5-1-2009 May Day Protest


This post is getting rather long, so I am going to end it here. Be sure to head over to http://picasaweb.google.com/BermanPost.com/512009MayDayProtest# to see the rest of the pictures.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Like what you read; Subscribe/Fan/Follow