"Reclaim the Streets!" in the Chicago 'burbs!

Is anyone here familiar with Reclaim the Streets!? It’s sort of a movement/celebration with an anarchist undercurrent. The gist of it is a huge group of people flood a downtown area, take over the streets & party. It first started in London as a joint effort between Ravers & Radicals, and it’s spread around the world…there have been parties in NYC, San Fran, Helsinki, Portland & many other places.

And this** Saturday, June 29th **, it will hit **Naperville, Illinois **(a megaburb 30 miles west of Chicago). We had one last year & there was a huge turnout–hundreds of people. But the authorities came down hard on it…police from several surrounding communities in full riot gear vowed to arrest anyone who set foot in the street (jaywalking!). That night about 15 arrests were made. And it was senseless…in order to prevent us for taking over the streets to party, the police had to shut down several streets leading into downtown! It’s a shame, because this event has occurred in many other cities & the police were nowhere near as harsh.

Because of its anarchist roots, no effort is made to obtain a permit to close the street, nor is there a permit for sound amplification. But the entire point of the event is to remind the community that our streets belong to the people. And for one day a year, in an act of civil disobedience, a party is held on our streets to celebrate our freedom.

There will be live music acts, circus-type performances, drum circles, puppet shows, petitions will be circulated, and advocates of many causes–animal rights, civil rights, drug legalization, genetically modified food, etc–will be there to talk to people one-on-one about their issues. It’s really a great idea, IMO–the music & dancing will attract young people to an organic event that hasn’t been packaged, marketed and sold to them. Perhaps it isn’t exactly what the founding fathers had in mind, but I doubt that they could really argue with this use of the 1st Amendment’s “freedom to assemble”.

So what say you, Dopers? Has anyone ever participated in a Reclaim the Streets! event? Has one ever happened in your town? Is it really necessary for the police to prevent the event from occurring by arresting people & using teargas?

Also, if there are any Chicago area dopers who don’t have plans for this Saturday…come on down to Naperville! We’ll also need trained people to volunteer as a street medic, and there will probably be a dire need for legal help during and after the event. If anyone’s interested in helping out, click over to theRTS! Websitefor more info!