Street Fights Caught On Tape

Political conflicts that lead to street fights can happen between and among gangs or groups with rivaling political ideals. These gangs many times see the police as just another enemy to be fought in the streets. Around 1930, there were many street fights between huge crowds of anti-fascists and fascists (especially communists or socialists). In the East End of London in 1936 The Fight of Cable Street was a confrontation like this that happend when the British Union of Fascists lead by Oswald Mosley tried to march through one of the Jewish districts in London and were stopped by huge crowds of local inhabitants.

In 1933 Toronto, Canada the Christie Pit Riot began during a game of baseball in a public park when an national socialst group of youths unfolded a swastika flag at a game between a Christian team and a Jewish team. Street fights between Communists and Nazis happened frequently in Germany before Hitler had taken the power. Around 1960, many groups of anti-war activists started street fights in Europe and the USA, with the leftist gang called the Weathermen being very well-known for starting street fights that were caught on tape. Around 1970 we saw examples of factional street fights caught on tape in battles between the teddy boys and the punks around King Street in London during the long summer of 1977.

Street fights between the police and activists have been common throughout some Asian, Latin American and African nations for many decades. In some countries, like Turkey and Italy, street fights kept happening between communists and facist activists. Although street fights was frowned upon by most activists around 1970 and 1980, it came back with a bang after the huge media attention showcasing the anti-globalization demonstrations in Seattle, Washington in 1999, Washington, District of Columbia in 2000 and Quebec City, Canada and Genoa, Italy in 2001.

Street fights caught on tape is usually practiced by younger activists who operate in black B.L.O.C. formations. In these street fights, protesters build and destroy barricades, vandalizes police vehicles and corporate property, throw rocks at police, cars and windows, and even burn down property and sometimes they even use devices such as Molotov cocktails to start fires. The police react by using pepper spray, tear gas, beating up protesters, and even shooting rubber bullets, all of this has also been documented on tape. One goal that some black B.L.O.C. street fighters admitted is to provoke the police so they will attack the non-violent demonstrants to “radicalize” them to accepting the street fighters extreme, commonly anti-government and anti-capitalist ideals.