Today, in a Detroit high school 8 students were arrested for disorderly conduct and one for inciting a riot. Students allegedly threw eggs and a bottle at the end, prompting police involvement. Students claimed to be protesting lack of books and dirty restrooms, but at one point a student identifies the proximate cause of the protest as the school administration's failure to uphold a promise to have a "free dress" day (as opposed to the uniforms they are required to wear).

But what is significant about this protest is that organizers from By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) were present and allegedly involved behind the scenes. BAMN continually claims it is non-violent, but repeated incident after incident reveal otherwise. At right is a photo of Shanta Driver and Luke Massie, co-chairs, caught in the act of starting a similar mele, and linked here is original Zarko Research video and an essay about the mini-riot that ensued. Co-chair Shanta Driver was present at today's melee, and has backed away from "organizing it" and is trying to lay all the blame on police. Compare that prevarication to the above photo where Massie and Driver are clearly the FIRST to start the disorderly actions.

Rarely do I clip an entire piece, here from the Detroit Free Press (whose links expire), but this is central to the mission of this blog, and I believe fair use given the topic.

Add this one to the ongoing pile of evidence about BAMN's rage:

Breaking news
Detroit high school protest turns to egg, bottle throwing

8 charged with disorderly conduct; one gets charged with inciting a riot

March 29, 2006

By CHASTITY PRATT

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

Thirty two Mackenzie High School students were detained or arrested Wednesday after a protest outside of the west-side Detroit school ended with egg and bottle throwing.

Roughly 125 of the school’s 1,700 students walked out of the school about noon to show dissatisfaction with the uniform policy and the condition of school building.

They also said they aren’t happy about a lack of books and passed around flyers with pictures of a broken toilet in the school.

Police broke up the protest after students began to impede traffic and someone threw a bottle at a truck, school officials said.

When police arrived, students scattered, running across the campus and into the nearby neighborhood.

“The egg throwing and the bottle throwing at passerby trucks has nothing to do with books,” said Principal Bernard Bonam, who stood amid broken eggs shells on the school grounds after the protest.

Eight of the students between the ages 17 and 18 were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. One student was charged with inciting a riot and 23 students who are minors were detained, said Detroit police spokesman James Tate.

Lamart Williams, 16, a sophomore at Mackenzie, said that the protest went well until the police started to arrest students. He hoped that the attention from the protest would lead to changes at the school.

“It’s no books to take home; … the school is dirty,” he said. Asked whether he thought he protest would make a difference, he said, “It should.”

Bonam said many of the problems with the school restrooms are caused by student vandalism.

“If they really wanted to learn, they’d be in school and not out here,” he said.

Bonam said the students who participated in the protest were truant from class in violation of the district’s student code of conduct and could be ticketed.

School police told students who tried to re-enter the building after the protest to go home, Bonam said.

In August, the school implemented a uniform policy and students were upset because they said administrators broke their promise to have “free dress” or nonuniform days.

Organizers from a grassroots civil rights group called BAMN, which stands for By Any Means Necessary, also were at the protest.

BAMN has staged protests against the state takeover of the Detroit Public Schools and has participated in protests to defend affirmative action. It has student organizers at several high schools, including Mackenzie.

Shanta Driver, an organizer with BAMN, said the group did not organize Wednesday's protest but heard the day before that the it was going to happen.

“Police started arresting people and kids started running,” she said, adding that police did not give the students enough time to disperse. “We’re going to have to demand that these charges be dropped. … Some of the kids were arrested in the neighborhood.”