Unbelievable, 30, wearing hoods, carrying bats, walked through Asheville NC smashing stuff

[G_j]

I live in the area but somehow missed this.
I don't get it, of all places, beautiful Asheville,...

*****************
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100503/NEWS/305030026/Suspected-downtown-Asheville-vandals-to-appear-in-court

Suspected downtown Asheville vandals to appear in court
By Mike McWilliams • and Carol Motsinger • May 3, 2010

ASHEVILLE — Video footage captured by Asheville Citizen-Times surveillance cameras shows some among a large group suspected in a Saturday night vandalism spree throwing bricks at windows and dragging newspaper boxes into the street.

The video also shows about 13 people who diverted from the main group and walked down an alley on the side of the Citizen-Times building used for employee parking. Between 20-30 people continued walking south on O'Henry Avenue.

The Asheville Police Department estimated the vandals damaged at least eight vehicles and five businesses.

Almost all of the 11 people arrested after the vandalism spree in downtown Asheville listed addresses outside Western North Carolina.

The suspects, whose ages ranged from 17-26, were each charged with seven counts of injury to personal property and three counts of injury to real property, both misdemeanors, according to arrest warrants filed at the Buncombe County Magistrate's Office. All are expected to have a first court appearance on the charges today.
..more..

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http://www.mountainx.com/news/2010/downtown_vandalized_by_protestors_ongoing_twitter_coverage

Downtown vandalized by angry mob (including ongoing Twitter coverage)
by Jeff Fobes on 05/02/2010

This video shows some of the destruction left behind after a group of approximately 30 people wearing hoods and carrying bats and rocks walked through downtown Asheville smashing car windows and store fronts.

Video by http://www.ashevillevideoproductions.com/ Distributed by Tubemogul.

The news of last night’s organized violence downtown against personal and business property is captured here via Twitter. First, the tweets up until 11:20 a.m., then in the feed below is the ongoing coverage, which follows the hashtag #vandalavl. It is a moderated feed. Remember to refresh your web browser window to capture any tweets that arrive after you land on the page.

******************
http://m.citizentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100503048


Message in Asheville vandalism spree escapes police

by Jon Ostendorff
updated May 4, 2010 6:04 pm

ASHEVILLE – If there was a message in the rampage, it escaped victims and investigators in a downtown vandalism spree carried out by about 30 people wearing black and wielding hammers.

Eleven people arrested as the mob moved through an area around Battery Park Avenue and the Grove Arcade late Saturday night made their initial court appearance Monday as police worked to find out more about them.

Most are students and are loosely tied to an anarchist website and the May Day movement, police said Monday.

The date has become a day for marking worker solidarity and has been seized upon for anti-capitalism displays of violence, especially by self-proclaimed anarchist groups in Europe.

At least one of the 11 arrested is an honor student. Only two had a record of previously arrests, both of them from Kansas City, and only two listed two Asheville addresses.

Police were still investigating their ties. Officers made the arrests three and four at a time as the group dispersed.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

1. Is this what those "flash mobs" are?

Scary stuff. Buncha idiots.

[sandnsea]

10. No

Flash mobs are peaceful and usually use some artistic means to get attention and relay their message.

[Dappleganger]

23. Google "Philly flash mobs"

It's a huge problem there involving well over a thousand kids at one point. They're using Twitter and FB to direct the crowd and stay ahead of the cops. Lots of businesses, tourists and locals have been attacked.

These aren't those non-violent mobs where everywhere breaks out in a flashdance all of a sudden.

[sandnsea]

26. And??

Sounds like cruising back in the day.

OMG!! Teenagers!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

ttp://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/S__Philly_Flash_Mob_Philadelphia.html

Good lord get a grip.

[RobinA]

30. And ....

They assault people? Nothing like cruising. At least not the kind of cruising I did - riding around in the boyfriend's Dodge Charger, blasting Frampton, stopping at Pizza Hut for a pie.

[sandnsea]

41. There were never any fights or crime??

Really?? In the entire US, for 30 years of cruising, not one single assault or robbery by teen-agers on the strip of any city in the entire country. Why that's quite amazing.

[superduperfarleft]

43. You have no clue what you're talking about.

These "flash mobs" should be more appropriately called wilding. The most recent one wasn't as bad (although several innocent people were assaulted, many left with serious injuries), the one last year ended with a store being destroyed, one woman pulled out of her car and beaten and robbed, and a cyclist being so badly assaulted that, as far as I know, he's still in the hospital.

This isn't being scared of teenagers, this is a mob of kids robbing and assaulting people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html

The original one: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/take_action&id=6842822

Yeah, just a bunch of harmless teenagers having fun.

[sandnsea]

44. Every time teenagers gather in numbers

There will be a percentage who will turn into hooligans. That's no reason to tarnish the entire group. And as you said, they should differentiate between wilding and flash mobs because they're not the same thing. Most of the teenagers are just gathering in a crowd, like they used to shove people in phone booths or cruise the strip.

How do people forget their teen-age years and turn into old grouches. Arrest the ones misbehaving, like we suggest they do with terrorists and other individuals who are labeled demographically.

[superduperfarleft]

45. I had some pretty wild teenage years, but I never participated in a riot

And I never randomly pulled people from their cars and beat them within an inch of their lives.

Regardless, the OP is about trustafarian anarchists, not teenagers just out to hurt people and break shit.

[sandnsea]

48. And people asked if these were flash mobs

With the answer being no.

In addition, the motivation for actual flash mobs isn't generally violence. If you click my link above, you'll see teen-agers laughing and mingling on the streets. Just because a few turn into hooligans, doesn't mean the entire group needs to be smeared.

[jberryhill]

65. Here's the thing....

Congregations of teenagers, or adults for that matter, are not "bad".

It does turn out that if you get a big enough group of anyone together in one place, that there are always those few who ruin it for everyone. That's why most states have laws to the effect of "if you are going to have a gathering of X number of people, then you have to pay for security".

The challenge presented by these organized gatherings of people is simply that it would be nice to know about it in advance by someone in a position to keep an eye on the inevitable troublemakers.

It is a hassle organizing things like block parties and so forth, but it's not as if the rules applicable to mass gatherings were established by the Department of Buzzkill.

[Xenotime]

97. Looks like they are morphing into something more violent.

[TorchTheWitch]

78. no, philly just stole the term

Flash mobs are non-violent, meant to be whimsical, often with an artistic bent and a social experiment as the reactions of bystanders that don't know what is going on is important (a la "Candid Camera") as it's the biggest reason for doing it. They're silly practical jokes played on the public at large by a big group of people who often recruit participants on the internet. It was Philly reporters who decided to call the teen riots in Philly flash mobs probably because of the word "mob". The "flash" in the term stands for how quickly the entire thing takes place which is usually just a couple of minutes or less as part of the experiment is the "what the hell was that, did that actually just happen" aspect of the reactions.

A couple examples of flash mobs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3dh0HcnBnw&feature=related

[mdmc]

91. thanks for the links

those acts gave me hope for humanity. I wonder why that is..

[Codeine]

2. Spoiled white college-boy anarchists.

Nothing lamer than an upper-middle-class coffee-shop revolutionary trying to live up to his new Che t-shirt.

[HALO141]

5. +1

[leeroysphitz]

7. yep

[sandnsea]

11. Trust fund anarchists

That's what Payton Oswald called them when he was performing in Eugene. Boy did I catch hell around here when I used the term. I still think they're being instigated by right wingers, same as I think about ANSWER. They discredit every movement and always show up when true solidarity is needed the most.

[Codeine]

19. I like that. "Trust Fund Anarchists."

Anarchy is easy when you have a nice car and Daddy pays for your apartment and makes sure you have cash for necessities like food, weed, and baseball bats.

"Let's go smash windows for the cause then play XBox!"

[Flaneur]

32. Of course you really don't know who these people are.

Or how rich their daddies are.

[Codeine]

82. Well, let's see.

One of them went to the same private school in DC that President Obama's children attend, as did Chelsea Clinton, Al Gore's son, and Nixon's kid. She was on the dean's list recently at UNC.

Sound like a poor kid?

[Lagomorph]

70. LOL! Harsh, but true.

I'll go ahead and use that one, thanks.

[Lorien]

25. Doubtful. More like angry tea party rednecks lashing out at "Liberal" Asheville

and posing as "anarchists". Note: they WERE NOT from the area, and most of the rural areas outside of Asheville are very conservative.

[SpiralHawk]

36. You got it Lorien - smells like right-wing black ops

all the way

[Codeine]

80. You people are delusional.

Dumb lefty college kids are just as capable of being assholes as anyone.

[Xenotime]

98. We "people" understand how the RW terrorists operate.

[Rebubula]

53. Well....

...if the facts don't fit with your assumptions....I guess you just fight on.

[tekisui]

69. THey were mostly out of towner white kids. Not teabaggers.

[Lagomorph]

74. First of all...

The tea partiers then to be much older.

They don't trust the government the same way that the Left doesn't trust corporations.

In my opinion, they're both right.

You can't trust anybody, without close monitoring. That is nothing new.

[Tsiyu]

87. What Spiral Hawk said

Asheville kids seem too laid back and artsy to waste time with that crowd.

But the hills and hollers surrounding that little haven are teeming with Fundies and Right Wing Repukes, affluent due to their concrete trucking/waste management/landscaping/cash advance businesses or their real estate/development transactions.

"Mama 'n Diddy said to go hate on sum libruls 'n so we did"...IMO

[Codeine]

88. These are all college kids.

They're from different cities and different states, not from the podunk backwoods of NC. Some are the product of some very nice private schools. A few already have arrests for anarchist activity.

Stupid conspiracy theories are just that -- stupid.

[Tsiyu]

89. "Conspiracy theories?"

Wow

IMO means in MY opinion.

yeah, they could be bored pseudo-anarchists, I'll give you that.

You're still insufferably - rudely I might add - off-base in 99% of your posts.

Attacking people for expressing their opinions is STUPID.

Nice, huh?

[Kitty Herder]

27. Anarchists in hoods?

[Codeine]

81. hooded sweatshirts

[DemoTex]

54. In Asheville, these types are often called "Trustafarians."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trustafarian

[Ex Lurker]

66. when I was in college, there was a guy who hung out in front of the student unon

wearing a Che t shirt, speechifying and handing out tracts. Occasionally he'd manage get himself arrested for something. He used the nom de plume "Jose Carrasco." His dad was the CEO of a multi state electric power company.

[lumberjack_jeff]

83. Jeffrey Goines

[AnArmyVeteran]

3. Is this the equivalent of a right wing 'erotic' dream?

[HALO141]

6. False logic.

Even if all right-wingers were douchebags, that does not mean that all douchebags are right-wingers.

[AnArmyVeteran]

9. I stand corrected, but still feeling the welts from your bat of logic...

[Dappleganger]

22. Nope, these are kids out looking for trouble.

Wearing hoodies just makes them feel part of the group even more.

Look up the Philly flash mobs, they've been a huge problem the past year.

[NBachers]

4. Yeah, they did the same thing in Santa Cruz, too

Little punk ass motherfuckers living out their video-game fantasies.

Celebrating May Day by destroying independent businesses and jobs built up by hard-working people.

Brave little shits, aren't they?

Chain 'em up on a Georgia chain gang

[Cetacea]

8. Two cities where one wouldn't expect this.

Keep stimmimg the brains of our young with violent video games!

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Which is why I (and apparently others) suspect RW instigators.

This discredits anarchists in areas that are deemed to be liberal and thus weakens the anti-corporatist message of anarchism, which is the only movement that seems to recognize that nationalism is on the wane and corporatism is the new nationalism.

[conscious evolution]

28. Would not surprise me

Asheville is a blue oasis in a sea of red.No way,no how would anarchists attack such a place.
RDU or Charlotte,I could see,but not Asheville.

[jberryhill]

33. "This discredits anarchists"

No.

"People who run around and break stuff" discredit "people who run around and break stuff."

If anarchists are not "people who run around and break stuff", and the only people who do are RW instigators, then how does this discredit anarchists?

[RaleighNCDUer]

59. From the Citizen Times article -

"Most are students and are loosely tied to an anarchist website and the May Day movement, police said Monday.

The date has become a day for marking worker solidarity and has been seized upon for anti-capitalism displays of violence, especially by self-proclaimed anarchist groups in Europe."

They are attributing the vandalism to anarchists, which reflects badly on anarchists - that is called "discrediting anarchists".

OK class? One plus one is...?

[jberryhill]

63. Well, I guess my question then is "Are they?"

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Any group of people attracts its nitwits, wannabees, and half-wits. Any group.

I don't know and don't care. They could be members of the American Automobile Association for all I care. They were arrested for breaking stuff, not for holding any particular opinions.

I would have just thought they were teenagers off on a hormonal binge of some kind until I saw your thing about how a bunch of hooligans in NC is being used to "discredit anarchists" and their fine reputation.

You do seem to indicate that you KNOW who they were not, so I'm wondering how you came to this knowledge.

[Frances]

15. You are right

A group trashed Santa Cruz last Saturday night.

Made me very angry.

I think they called in some false alarms to places away from the area they trashed in order to have fewer police available to stop their vandalism.

[greencharlie]

12. you title evokes vision of KKK... I didn't see anything about hoods and the gang arrested is Commies

[G_j]

13. you missed it then

in the second article

[JanMichael]

14. 2cd link

"This video shows some of the destruction left behind after a group of approximately 30 people wearing hoods and carrying bats and rocks walked through downtown Asheville smashing car windows and store fronts."

G_j isn't one to overly dramatize headings.

[G_j]

17. ---

:hi:

you've seen Asheville, this is just bizarre!

The idiots picked May Day, a day of acknowledgment and solidarity for workers rights.

[greencharlie]

20. Hoods as in white sheets with eye holes or hooded sweatshirts I wonder...

[Codeine]

21. Oh stop it.

You're being absurd.

[greencharlie]

24. ok ; )

[Quantess]

38. I was wondering the same, and trying to figure out what the "hoods" entailed.

It's a valid question. I was expecting KKK action when I clicked on the thread.

[G_j]

49. it's wierd, I didn't even think of that

when I posted. But yes, it's understandable that someone might think that, being in the south and all.

[Regret My New Name]

62. That's actually what I thought upon reading the title...

Reading the article made it seem less like that though.

[readmoreoften]

85. Commies? What? Do you live in 1954?

Communists organize towards mass revolution through party blocs; they don't break windows in the street. That would be anarchists. Or RW provocateurs.

[Heidi]

94. Oh, no! *GASP!* Not the dreaded "Commies"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0K_LZDXp0I

[Dappleganger]

18. Google the Philly flash mobs...

lots of activity which sound similar, but on a larger scale. Kids are using Twitter and FB to direct the mob to specific areas and stay ahead of the cops.

[piedmont]

29. If ever there were a good use for mass-Tasering, this would be it. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. On behalf of Kansas City

I apologize.

[Dreamer Tatum]

34. Why do people jump to conclusions?

Why are people going out of their way to pin this on the RW when it clearly isn't leaning that direction? There is nothing worse than someone who will take something more factual and do whatever they must to make it less factual.

I don't get it.

[slackmaster]

37. This is DU. It's what some DUers do.

Making knee-jerk assumptions are always easier than waiting until the actual identity of the perpetrators is revealed.

[superduperfarleft]

46. Because the worldview of many on DU has little relation to reality.

It's becoming increasingly frustrating.

[tekisui]

72. Who knows? This was a May Day event.

They were certainly not teabaggers or right wingers. They were anti-capitalists.

[WinkyDink]

35. It's starting.

[Dreamer Tatum]

39. What's starting?

Favor me: what, exactly?

[WinkyDink]

73. The civil unrest based on NO JOBS.

[tekisui]

76. They were all aged 17-26.

I think it is largely in response to the inability to work. Going workless for one's entire adult life, I just can't imagine.

[Regret My New Name]

86. I dunno... I'm by far one the most unemployable person I know

and even I can manage to find work at times. Although, it's been harder the past couple years, but I don't see how anyone could be jobless for eight years (assuming no disabilities) :/

[klook]

40. There's a contingent of bored, aimless kids hanging around Asheville

You see them lollygagging in the downtown area - a cross-section of runaways, unemployed young people, self-styled anarchists, and hobo wannabes, apparently.

This outbreak involved a number of students living on their parents' money, it looks like, but I would guess some of the Aimless Ones got swept up in it as well.

It's too bad -- these nihilists could turn their lives around and make a contribution by getting involved in any of several worthy volunteer opportunities.

[G_j]

42. actually,

Almost all of the 11 people arrested after the vandalism spree in downtown Asheville listed addresses outside Western North Carolina.
It's unclear why they picked Asheville.

[lib2DaBone]

96. Could this be Karl Rove and his "Young Republicans"?

Asheville is a beautiful "Progressive" town. It's probably just too much for the Fundies and Repukes to tolerate...


Remember when the "Young Republicans" were bussed into Miami to disrupt the vote count?

[brooklynite]

47. I've always wondered how Anarchists would react if you went into their room...

...and destroyed their computer, stereo, TV set etc. After all, nobody really owns anything, and property laws are only there to protect the oppressive capitalists and government dictators.

[Barking Spider]

52. they'd react much like my communist roommate

A college roommate of mine was a Communist - literally a party member. He was REALLY sanctimonious and preachy about consumerism and capitalism and private ownership. Kept leaving idiotic literature everywhere. And secretive too - he disappear for a couple of days, wouldn't tell anybody where he was and feared the FBI.

I was in charge of the phone bill and he ran up a bill close to $300 and then disappeared for a week. We figured he would probably drop out of school. I feared he would return in the middle of the night, grab his stuff and bail, leaving the bill for the rest of us. So I confiscated his entire CD collection to hold as collateral. Well, he eventually returned (not in the middle of the night) and immediately asked where his stuff was. I gave him back his CDs and explained why I did it. Man, he was pissed! He was "so disturbed" that I would "take his stuff." He wouldn't let it go. Over and over, for several days, he told me he was really angry that I took his stuff.

I've never seen such a committed communist so passionately defend personal/private property.

[LanternWaste]

56. Communism does allow for private property.

Communism does allow for private property.

[Regret My New Name]

64. I believe there is a difference in view between personal and private property...

Like, I don't think even the most hardcore communist would advocate you need to share your toothbrush with others, or other such personal things. I think it's mostly privater property, no? I dunno, I'm not a communist, nor do I know any, but from what I've read that seems to be the general feelings many seem to have.

[readmoreoften]

84. Maybe if you read some of his "idiotic literature" you'd know what communism is.

There's a difference between private property--particularly the privatized means of production--and someone's CD collection. Maybe he didn't tell you where he was going because it was none of your business.

Yes, you know about all communists because you had a roommate who was a communist. You're an expert. :eyes: Grow up.

[Forrest Greene]

50. The Only Thing These "Anarchists" Know About Anarchy

...is that you draw a circle, not a square, around the "A".

Punks like this just get in the way when they try to be serious.

[MkapX]

55. Anarchist posers?

These people give anarachist a bad name....all these kids now and and days think anarchy is an excuse to act like a brat and destroy stuff. Anarchist posers who shop at wal mart and think they apart of the movement cause they shop at hot topic and listen to Anti flag. And cause they think anarchist flags and symbols look "kewl". When really the philosophy is a lot deeper.

[annabanana]

90. (false flag operatives, maybe)

The MO doesn't match any anarchists that I've encountered.

[Jennicut]

51. Why couldn't they have done something fun...

like a zombie walk? I always wanted to dress up like a zombie for no reason at all.

[Rex]

57. Why does Battery Park sound familiar?

[and-justice-for-all]

58. This is how children act when they do not get their way...

they have temper tantrums. It is the one thing that pukes and their ilk are good at.

[Skip Intro]

60. Some pics of the thugs:

more here: http://boulevardier4eva.wordpress.com/

[SOS]

99. Often times the simplest explanation is correct

Anarchists, communists, klansmen, trust funders, tea baggers...
Looks more like booze and meth.

[spanone]

61. chickenshits cover their heads

[Regret My New Name]

67. Hmmm... I'm guessing this "Ashville 11 Defense" is satire of sorts?

http://avl11defense.wordpress.com

I just skimmed it so far, so I can't tell for sure yet.

[tekisui]

77. Not a satire.

They may be idiots, but they are still citizens and deserve proper representation.

[Lagomorph]

68. Anarchists....

A child feels powerful by destroying something.

A mature human being feels powerful by creating something.

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. Anarchism must be on the way back

by the way YOU IDIOTS in the US Press... May Day is the anniversary of the Hay Market Massacre in Chicago...

Oh never mind... Yes it should be as American as Apple Pie.

[tekisui]

75. I drove around the next morning to survey the damage.

What a waste. Several local businesses had there windows smashed, a city sculpture was busted. It is a waste all around. THe property damage is the least of it. The city is more on edge now, less safe feeling. And at least 11 young people's future is going to be damaged, probably forever.

From what I can gather, they were anti-capitalists. An anarchist website from Denver had a post up the next morning celebrating the night. 10 kids, aged 17 through 26, have spent the week in jail(one posted the $10,000 bail). They are requesting public defenders. It is just such a waste.

I understand the urge. Immediate action has its place, but this was randomly targeted at Asheville and at the businesses there. I guess Asheville is getting well known enough to represent something.

[G_j]

79. right, destroying a sculpture is making a statement against capitalism

cars, small business.. It's strange that people would travel somewhere to commit basically random vandalism.
I've known some anarchists, and none of them did this type of thing. Something strange about it, maybe they are just wannabes, I don't know.

[mmonk]

92. Asheville is a laid back progressive town. I smell anarchists.

[taterguy]

93. FIGHT THE POWER!

:sarcasm:, in case anyone couldn't tell

[MilesColtrane]

95. This kind of thing is bound to happen when you've got high unemployment.

Vandals, teabaggers, brownshirts, all blossom under bad economic conditions.

[lunatica]

100. What happened to just getting high, dropping out and make love not war?