They have vowed that the demonstrations will be disruptive, but not violent. Business owners have complained that supposed anarchists will riot in a proposed ''sanctuary'' for protesters in downtown's Pershing Square. The City Council has agreed to reconsider the proposal, fearing a repeat of the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last fall that caused millions of dollars in damage. The North American Anarchist Conference meets in Los Angeles during the Democratic Convention, scheduled for Aug. 14-17. Actual anarchists say the police have unfairly tried to depict them as vandals and looters clad in ski masks or ''punks'' with pink hair, nose rings and a hunger for destruction.
Many anarchists say they're just normal people, with an alternate political view.
We don't all believe in chaos or destruction. We believe in a decentralized society, organizing from community levels and building society up from there,'' he said. The LAPD has raised concerns over radical anarchist splinter groups such as the Black Army Faction, which claimed responsibility for acts of arson and vandalism over the past year in Eugene, Ore., the host city for past conferences. Hart, a member of the Anarchist Black Cross, a movement to free political prisoners, said there are many different types of anarchists but most are simply nonviolent rights activists. We're not out as much in the limelight, and unfortunately the FBI, the federal government and the media define our movement by default,'' he said.