Yesterday, as the Republican National Convention officially started, protests got a little more in your face as more "underground" events are coming to head. In one incident, an undercover police offier was knocked off his scooter by protesters and momentarily lost consciousness. Of course, there's some debate between cops and protesters over whether or not the officer was knocked off or actually fell off the scooter, as the crowd could have overwhelmed the police. And in other follow-up news, Yusuke Banno, the protester who lit a papier mache dragon on fire during Sunday's protest, was held on a $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash, after being charged with inciting a riot, resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer. But the report of a protester punching a delegate that was leaving The Lion King - Gothamist feels that's just tacky.
Today, August 31, has been designated as the other big (as opposed to Sunday's march) protest, with non-violent, civil disobedience protests organized throughout the city by A31. And that some worry that the protests will erupt into violence. The Daily News sent reporter Kelly Burke "undercover" to learn more about the machinations of protest groups:
For a week, I slept in my clothes. I hung around lower East Side anarchist cafes... I...chatted with a dreadlocked punk painter and her slacker beau, both from Brooklyn, to deflect suspicion. Individuals introduced themselves on a first-name-only basis. Many had monikers like Brush, Willow and Skate.
Watch for things to happen all over downtown, then converging on Madison Square Garden.
