Why anarchists pick May Day for their protests
May 1, now a rallying day for anti-capitalist and anarchist groups, dates to the 19th century and commemorates the Haymarket riot of 1886
The anarchists who apparently vandalized several cars and buildings in North Philadelphia on May Day aren't alone in their beliefs: Authorities have documented anti-gentrification vandalism, especially on the West Coast, for some time.
Tensions over gentrification have risen since the influx of tech companies and the resulting cost-of-living increases in places like San Francisco and Seattle, spurring regular protests — sometimes involving vandalism.
The magazine Mask, rounding up a list of incidents in the Bay Area, catalogued the vandalism of a bus carrying Google employees in 2013 — activists protesting gentrification smashed a back window during a protest. Mask describes itself as a voice for "antagonist youth."
The Department of Homeland Security released a 2013 memo outlining three arsons in Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle; and Grand Rapids, Mich. — all at new development sites. Later, anonymous posters on anarchist websites claimed responsibility, and decried rent hikes and gentrification. All three fires were preceded by "a number of low-level criminal actions," including smashed windows and anti-gentrification graffiti, the department wrote.
Philadelphia police said Tuesday it was unclear whether the incident in North Philadelphia was connected to May Day. May 1 is traditionally a rallying day for anticapitalist and anarchist groups, dating to the 19th century and commemorating the Haymarket riot of 1886. That day in Chicago, someone lobbed a bomb at police during a rally for an eight-hour workday, and gunfire broke out. Several police officers and civilians were killed and dozens were wounded. The eight labor activists convicted of conspiracy in the aftermath — four of whom were executed — were pardoned seven years later by Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld, who wrote that there was no evidence they had been involved in the bombing.
In modern times, it's a day to express solidarity with the working class, and in Philadelphia, Monday's protests in Center City were peaceful and driven largely by mainstream groups — teachers' unions and immigrant rights groups.
"To lump [those arrested Monday night] in with people expressing constitutional rights would be premature and disrespectful of people who are legitimately trying to protest," said police spokesman Capt. Sekou Kinebrew. "People that did express themselves in a lawful manner -- that's as American as apple pie. What we saw last night was a crime. Multiple crimes."