DOC RELATES TO PROJECT MERRIMAC (MERRIMACK) - SPECIAL INFORMATION REPORT - PROSPECTS FOR DISRUPTIVE DEMONSTRATION IN WASHINGTON

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00018008
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 12, 2023
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2023
• Case Number: F-2021-01028
• Publication Date: August 18, 1970

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41,
18 August 1970
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SPECIAL INFORMATION REPORT.
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Prospects for Disruptive Demonstration in Washington
In rune two national meetings were held,- one at Cleveland and
one at Milwaukee, by leading organizations in the anti-war movement.
The Cleveland meeting, entitled "The National Emergency Conference
Against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam War" was held from 18 to 21 June
'and sponsored principally by the Student Mobilization Committee to End
the War in Vietnam. Fourteen hundred activitists attended and the
principal opposition to the Student Mobe tactics and objectives came from
the Workers Student Alliance faction of the SDS. The Student Mobe,
which is controlled by the Young Socialist Alliance,. the youth group of
the Trotskyite Socialist Workers Party, continued to adhere to a single
issue objective and a mass demonstration tactic. The WSA.on the other
hand, which is the youth group of the Maoist Progressive Labor Party, is
multi-issue oriented and dedicated to a strategy of confrontation and violence.
Since the Student Mobe controlled the majority of those attending the
Cleveland conference, the tactics, which include mass demonstrations in
urban centers on 31 October, was adopted. It was further decided at
Cleveland that the emphasis would be placed on relating the war to the issues
of racial oppression, inflation, political repression, GI rights, etc.
The following week, Tune 27 and 28, a "Strategy Action
Conference" was staged at Milwaukee. Principally responsible for the
coordination at Milwaukee was the New Mobilization Committee with,
for the first time, participation by a significant American Negro group,
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Also present at Milwaukee
were representatives from the National Welfare Rights Organization. The
tactical plan advanced at Milwaukee was away from the past strategy of
mass demonstration and toward increased militancy.
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As is usually the case with national m(�,Lincis of rryli(ml left.131::
and anti-war organizations, tte Milwaukee conference broke into aontuntvr � �
_ of workshops which_formulated plans for future action then presented them
to the general conference for approval. One such action pluan,- for the
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disruption and liberation of Washington was authored by Arthur Irvin
Waskow (see attachment #1) and presented to the conference by Rennie
Davis (see attachment #2). It was originally proposed that peace marchers
from several eastern cities would converge on Washington on Labor Day,-
September 7, in. the hope of shutting down the city for several days.
The general conference failed to vote support to the plan. Little enthusiasm
has since been generated for the September date and it appears that any �
effort to disrupt the city, if it comes before next May, will occur in late
October or early November. A plan for fail would coincide with national
elections and the availability of college students. Davis and Waskow would
probably also wish to take advantage of publicity presently being
disseminated for Student Mobe scheduled activities on October 31.
Recent events-at the 23rd Congress of the National Student
Association held at McAllister College at St. Paul, Minnesota, tend to
indicate that any plan for disrupting the city is considered out until na:t
spring. Rennie Davis on the 14th of August presented to those convening
at St. Paul the Arthur Waskow plan for the disruption and liberation of
Washington. It appears that Davis hoped to elicit the support of a generally
respectable organization of students. In addressing the student congress,
Davis advised that the date for the demonstration was. picked as the first
anniversary of the Cambodian "invasion". Although Rennie Davis' plan
was reportedly supported by most National Student Association leade,-s,
his proposal was narrowly defeated by the delegates (134 for, 150 against). �
It is probably .of more than passing significance that Ralph Abernathy of
the SCLC at that organization's just concluded 13th annual convention
has started talking of a second'poor people's march or, Washington next
spring. it is considered highly probable that Abernathy may select a
date in late April or early May 1971 to coincide with the Davis-Waskow
plan for 1 May.-
In summary, it is considered unlikely that an attempt will be
made this fall to disrupt either the city or various Government agencies.
The unlikelihood of such a move is indicated by the near total lack of
publicity to date in the radical and underground press, Davis' address
to the NSA convention specifying the 1 May date, and Ralph AbernathY's
'projected plans for next spring. If, however, Davis can manage to
mount a clisruviive dr.mion:31.r31i0n in Washington this fall, ii will
probably be coordinated with the October 31 nationwide demonstration
plons of the Student Mobe.. rIlif_! National Steering COITUT1 i t,r" of the
Student .Mobe_was to meet in mid-August and perhaps more detailssof .
their fall plans will fie a'nnOunced soon. - A_possible demonstration over
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the Labor Day weekend is regarded as highly unlikely. No advanced
publicity for such a demonstration has been noted.
If an attempt by Rennie Davis, Arthur Waskow, and others is
made this fall to march on or block access to the Agency as well as
other federal departments, it is doubtful that their efforts could produce
serious disruption. Some adverse publicity (principally in the underground
press) could however result.
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28 August 1970
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SITUATION INFORMATION REPORT
CALENDAR OF TENTATIV,ELY SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
ai
. Asterisked items are either reported for-the first time, or
contain additions or changes to previously reported activities.
*28 August - 3 September, Portland, -Oregon
Antiwar protest groups at Portland are sponsoring a "people's
Army Jamboree" (PAJ) on the above dates. The national convention
of the American Legion is being held at Portland at the same time. �
On. August 5 a PAJ spokesman, describing the Legion as an arrogant
and self�-important symbol of death and destruction, said that any PAJ
confrontation with the Legion would be planned as peaceful but that
.the possibility of violence could not be discounted.. As many as
50,000 persons may participate and this number will probably swell
if the President addresses the convention.. 10(-7.07 "1�-
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In a meeting on August 20 the Portland City Council voted to
permit the PAJ to use Portland's East Delta Park (a 90 acre site
seven miles from downtown) during the week. Repfesentatives of
PAJ did not attend the council meeting and the organization's coordinating
committee had on the previous day decided to reject the use of East
Delta Park if offered. The coordinating committee instead decided to
take whatever park PAJ needed with or without permits. Reportedly
several hundred individuals expected in Portland from the Seattle area
are regarded as hard core radicals who could be expected to cause
trouble. hi 04 947-X/7e'
Portland law enforcement officials regard PAJ estimates of
youths expected to attend-inflated. Law enforcement officials reportedly,
however: arc making extensive. security arrangements. Nearly 4,000
National Gu'ardsme.n have recently been trained in crowd control and
Ply. 7;n1 r 5?. ;
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Governor McCall has ordered Guardsmen to special assembly
points in the Portland area and has told the Guardsmen to be prepared
to stay on duty as long as needed. The state of Oregon has turned
o'er a state park 25 miles southeast of Portland fora free festival
on the above dates in an attempt to syphon off as many youths as
� possible from Portland. 14 t1.7., 'lie
A recent_article in the linderground Berkeley Barb publicizes
the Jamboree. The article reflects that the American Legion "relates"
to systematic oOpression and exploitatiop of racial minorities; American
imperialism; lower wages, higher taxes and unomploymerit as a result.
of American imperialist policies; the suffering of women under a
capitalist system which exploits them economically and socially and
perpetuates male supremacy; those seeking political or cultural changes
in America finding themselves continually repressed by the "pig"
power structure; and-army draftees finding themselves trapped in a
fascist system, stripped of their constitutional rights, and forced to
comply with a racist and imperialist power structure.
� The PAJ schedule of events is as follows:
29 August - General orientation, formation of
affinity groups, publishing legal defense and medical
information, a rock concert and guerilla theater.
30 August - Workshops on the points at issue,
national speakers, education regarding local "pig"
institutions, music and theater. �
31 August - Victory to the Vietnamese celebration
in the late afternoon and demonstration march in the
evening. (This is the scheduled day of the American
Legion parade.)
1 September - Demonstrations and actions at local
"pig" institutions, free Bobby Sealzancl all political prisoners
demonstrations,. anti-racism torchlight march at night.
2 September - Continuation of workshop activities in
the morning and clean-up and community services in the
afternoon;
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The address of the People's Army Jamboree is P.O. Box
843, Portland, Oregon; telephone number [phone].
21) August, Los Angeles, California
� A national Chicano moratorium is itill being planned by
radical leftist Mexican-American organizations in urban centers of
the western U.S. with sizable ,Mexican-American populations. The
center of these activities will be Los Angeles.. Participants will
include known thilitants coming-to southern Catifornia from as far
away as Denver. About 50,000 persons are expected by the organizers
to participate and the tentative plan is for a march beginning at L.A. 's
Belvedere Park at 10 a.m.
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The theme of the demonstration seems principally to be
ending the war in Vietnam regardless of the consequences. Some of
the organizations involved have a long record of past activity in
political demonstrations. Included are the Mexican-American
Political Association, the United Farm W rkers Organizing Committee
and the...Young Socialist Alliance. eV11.7 t11- eittei � T-ib-
*30 August, Washington, D.C.
D.C. Women's Liberation will hold the first women's festival
at L'Enfant Square, 10th and Constitution Avenue in the afternoon of
August 30.. Women in the movement are being invited to participate
as performers or as artists displaying their work. u2cLilopc-rix.es
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*September, New York
The Black Academy of Arts and Letters has announced that
three black Americans will be enrolled in the Academy's newly
established Hall of Fame in September. One of those elected is the
late W. E. R. DuBois. It is expected that DuBois' widow, Shirley
Graham DuBois, will attend the ceremonies. The 71 year old Mrs.
DuBois, a citizen of Ghana presently living in Cairo, has just been
issued a visa to travel .in America after first being denied the visa by
the Department of JusticC. Mrs. DuBois allegedly belongs to some
30 subvesrsive organizations and Was originally deemed iinadmissible
on this basis. 41\-t-1 1(0-
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*September, Washington, D.C.
� Reportedly Huey P. Newton, the Black Panther Party
leader recently released from prison and highly articulate black
radical, has been invited to speak before freshmen students �at
� Howard University during the third week in September.
Although.dates have not yet been announced, it has also
been reported that Newton will make one or more national television
r:par W.3�2iT- fill ti�
appearances toward the end of September.
*3 - 7 September, Atlanta, Georgia
The Congress of African Peopli will-meet to develop
institutions to biing�about the liberation of black people. Thousands
of persons are expected to attend the Congress, which is an
expansion of black power conferences held annually since 1966.
Representatives are expected from North America, Latin America,
Africa and the Caribbean. The Chairman of the Congress is Haywood
Henrir,...who is Chairman of the Black Affairs Council and a member
of Harvard University's Department of Afro-American Studies.
7.0% '1".�
Mr. Henry in a recent press release has established the
following Congress goals: (1) to provide an ideological frainework
for the black power movement; (2) to develop plans to build black
institutions at local, national and international levels; (3) to create a
structure to implement mandates; (4) to exchange information; (5) to
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provide an opportunity for fellowship. A Me 5 2
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Reportedly black extremists from the United States and abroad
are expected to attend. One of the participants will be LeRoi Jones,
radical poet and playwright. Well known black revolutionary Stokely
Carmichael is also scheduled to appear at the Congress. Reportedly
Carfnichael will arrive in the.Vnited States. on about 1 September and
will attend at least a portion of the Atlanta gathering. Carmichael
will probably make an address. The President of Tanzania, Julius K.
Nyerere, may also attend. rif:7 0''27O f/4
5 - 7 Sel3tember, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. -
The Mack Panther Party sponsored revolutiona.ry People's
_Constitutional Convention *ill be held on the above dates allegerjly at
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Temple Universitjr. Four thousand people are expected to attend
the convention. The nationally prominent Panther hierarchy.
iricluding David Hilliard, Elbert "Big Man" Howard and recently
released Huey Newton, will head the convention. friftiV-e)(fiCt
*5 - 7 September, Yosemite National Park, California
A West Coast unclergroand'newspaper is promoting a Yosemite
liberation Movement calling for 10,800 to take ovor
the park over the Labor Day weekend and to over*helm the "tree
. fuzz" and "ranger pigs". California police authorities believe that
if an attempt to "liberate" the park develops the hippie subculture can
be contained. -10144- M
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7 September, Mor.ristown, N. J. and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
�
L.
Al Hubbard, spokesman for Veterans Against the War,
announced plans for RAW (Rapid American Withdrawal). The
�organization is sponsoring a march from Morristown to Valley Forge
by Vietnam veterans and current military personnel. At a recent
meeting of Veterans Against the War, Rev. Thomas Hayes of the
Episcopal Peace Fellowship read a telegram from Prince Norodom
Sihanouk which praised the antiwar movement in America and requested.
..�.
continued pressure on the President. ref: 1!-7
8 September, New York
The trial of 13 Black Panthers charged in th,c New York bombing
conspiracy will begin on 8 September. State Supreme Court Justice
John M. Murtagh indefinitely postponed the trial some months ago due
to the courtroom deportment of the defendants as well as the defense
attorneys. At least two of those accused, Joan Bird and Michael Tabor,
are currently at liberty on $50,000 bond. The Black Panther Party,
as well as other black militant�organizations, have used the Joan Bird
release in a major propaganda effort to solicit black community, as
well as white radical, .support for the Panther cause. Ar
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*12 September, Atlantic City, -New Jersey -
On August 19 Al Marks, who is Chairman of the Board of the
Atlantic City Miss 'America-Pageant, announced that he had received
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confidential information that organizations of the Women's
Liberation Movement are planning a major disruption during the
crowning ceremonies of Miss America for 1971. These ceremonies
are scheduled-to take place on the evening of September 12. firr /41,- 141.G
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*3 - 10 October, Nationwide
At the recently concluded 23rd annaal convention of the
National Siudent Association the derogates called for 'the organization
of a national peace petition week on the above dates. The Association
will sponsor a drive aimed at. gathering 10 million dollars and 20
million signatures to support the antiwar movement.
The convention elected David Ifaihin of 9020 Cherbourg Drive,
Potomac, Maryland; the new president of the. student group. He
succeeds Charles Palmer, formerly of the University of California
at Berkeley. Ifshin, whose father, Harold, owns a D.C. liquor store,
has a history of campus radicalism. As president of the Syracuse
�Uhiversity student body, he organized the October and November 1969
Vietnam moratoriums, headed a student strike in May of this year
and led students in support of university service workers who won
union recognition this year. Additionally, Ifshin�participated in
demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention where he
says he was beaten by Chicago police. Ifshin reportedly was a strong
supporter earlier in convention proceedings of the Rennie Davis plan
to disrupt the functioning of the Government at Washington next May;
although the delegates voted down the plan presented by him.
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Ifshin, however, led a successful drive for delegate reversal
and gained support of a plan similar to the one proposed earlier in the
week by Davis. The resolution as finally passed by 214 to 50 states
in part "if the war has not ended by May 1, .1971, NSA will commit
itself to a concerted expansion of massive non-violent action including
civil disobedience at the local,, national and regional levels." It
appears that in adopting this resolution the delegates were persuaded
that the May 1 action �in. Washington would come about with or without
NSA support and that NSA should get in on the action. Additional details
will prObably be forthcoming as the date approaches.
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*5 October, Washington, D.C.
The United States Supreme Court reconvenes on October S.
A Boston group called the Committee for Constitutional Decision
is presently attempting to collect ten million signatures in support
of the Massachusetts appeal to the Court to declare the war in
Vietnam unconstitutional. According to Dr. Steven Worth, co-
chairman of the -committee and a faculty member at Northeastern
University-, 5,5,00 local groups across the nation will be circulating
petitions in support of the Massachusetts law. "
���..
The Massachusetts State Attorney General has filed a brief
with the Supreme Court asking for a ruling on the .constitutionality
of a state law passed earlier this year. The statute states in part
that no Massachusetts resident will be required to participate in a
foreign war unless such hostilities were initially authorized or
subsequently ratified by a Congressional declaration of war. 1�.�,pG
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*31 Qctober, Washington, D.C.
The Student Mobilization'Committee to End the War in Vietnam,
in a Cleveland meeting last June, adopted a proposal for mass
demonstrations in various American cities on the 31st of October.
The demonstrations, which are allegedly nationally coordinated will
be centered around the demand for immediate and unconditional.
withdrawal of all U.S. troops as well as .material from Southeast Asia.
The October emphasis will be placed on relating the war directly to
the issues of racial oppression, inflation, poverty,ounemployment,
political repression, GI rights and women's liberation.
The Student Mobe (which is controlled by the Young Socialist
Alliance, youth affiliate of the Socialist Workers Party) will continue
its�teffort to. involve the labor movement, third world groups and
members of the military in opposition to the war. The Student Mobe,
persisting in their philosophy, believe that demonstrations in major
urban centers is th-e best way at this time to increase participation in
the antiwar movement.�
Specific New Mobe plans fht- particular American cities have. thus .
far not. been widely publicized.- Principal target cities and demonstration
tactics will probably becolve known in coming weeks. / /4/6�.3. 71
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SOURCE: Government and news media
RELIABILITY:� Probably true
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