2000 Democratic National Convention protest activity

As soon as the game ended, the crowd of nearly 10,000 people quickly turned violent, as some began attacking property, making bonfires, beating up a Lincoln limo and two LAPD cars, flipping a news van, and setting fire to a Ford Explorer, as well as looting local businesses.

[2] All the local media channels covered the riots live on television, where LAPD officers were seen containing the rioters, but taking some time before actively dispersing the crowd.

It became the fastest independent media collective to go from inspiration, after clashes between police, protesters and indie journalists at the November 1999 World Trade Organization WTO summit in Seattle, to having live satellite transmission capabilities and a bona-fide, official entity.

Indy-media leased the Patriotic Hall, converting the entire building to a giant media studio within 24 hours of taking possession of the premises on August 12.

Dozens of field reporters delivered media to a triage stage and moved on to editing crews composed of teenage nerds to Hollywood indie filmmakers.

Progressive supporters like Ben and Jerry [1] ice cream,(a sister company of Breyers) provided thousands of dollars in free product to the Indymedia project with a continuously-resupplied truck in the Patriotic Hall parking lot.

In order to provide security around the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the LAPD, Los Angeles Fire Department and United States Secret Service designed a large secure zone for the news outlets and media and surrounded by a perimeter fence consisting of K-rail barriers with a 10-foot fence rising up from it.

[5] In the months leading up to the convention, cable channel MTV began planning a large, free concert to take place in downtown Los Angeles as a part of its "Choose or Lose" campaign aimed at getting youth out to vote.

However, the band's political message, combined with the title of its most recent album, The Battle of Los Angeles, caused serious concerns from LA city leaders.

The band was offered prime time slots coinciding with the marquee speaker on the opening night of the convention, then-President Bill Clinton.

[7] During the concert, the band's front-man Zack de la Rocha said to the crowd, "brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked,"[6] and later shouted "we have a right to oppose these motherfuckers!

"[11] The police soon after declared the gathering an unlawful assembly,[8] switch off the electrical supply, interrupting performing band Ozomatli,[11] and informed the protesters that they had 15 minutes to disperse on pain of arrest.

[12] Some of the protesters remained, however, including two young men who climbed the fence and waved black flags, who were subsequently shot in the face with pepper spray.