Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 23:59:47 -0400
Subject: Prison sentence divides town: Rob Los Ricos bserves first anniversary of jail sentence


Prison sentence divides town
Portland Oregonian

Sunday, June 18, 2000
By Bryan Denson of The Oregonian staff 

The rock that doomed Rob Thaxton wasn't much of a missile. It was the size of 
a dinner plate and weighed more than four pounds -- the kind of rock you find 
on a garden path, not in the hands of an angry rioter.

        Thaxton picked it up one year ago today in Eugene during an 
anti-capitalist demonstration-turned-street riot. The bare-chested anarchist 
planned to heave the stone through the window of a police cruiser to strike 
back against the authorities. But a police sergeant suddenly turned the 
corner on a dead run, and Thaxton panicked.

        "I lobbed this rock up, and I'm thinking the cop's gonna stop. But he 
doesn't stop," Thaxton said. "He keeps running at me and bam!"

    The rock struck Sgt. Larry Blackwell in the shoulder and staggered him. 
Thaxton remembered thinking: This is trouble.

        Trouble indeed.

        A judge in October sentenced Thaxton to seven years and four months 
in the state prison system, a verdict that rattled the counter-culture town 
of Eugene right down to its Birkenstocks. The sentence martyred Thaxton and 
divided Eugene into those who saw him as a menace and those who thought the 
courts had put anarchism on trial, not the crime.

        The case spotlighted the growing chasm between the city's 
law-and-order citizens and a growing underclass that views laws, technology 
and capitalism as obstacles to real freedom.

        Today, demonstrators had planned to rally downtown to celebrate the 
anniversary of the June 18 riot. Police are geared up for the Carnival 
Against Capital. And a few shops have put up window signs to let would-be 
vandals know they are locally owned, not the big corporations hated by many 
activists.

        "They keep saying it's a historical re-enactment," said Thaxton, 
whose supporters mailed him notes about the event. "I'm hoping they have a 
better plan than they did last year. Because last year there wasn't a plan, 
and everything kind of just went crazy."

        Thaxton celebrated his 40th birthday in the state's maximum-security 
prison in Salem and considers himself a scapegoat for the riot. In his first 
interview since entering prison, he told The Oregonian that only by chance 
was he even in Eugene that day.

        The native Texan lived at an anarchist camp deep in the Douglas 
County woods, eating wild mushrooms and bulk foods and working on an organic 
farm. The camp had a freshwater spring, propane stoves and hundreds of books 
to while away the long rainy days. Thaxton moved there from Portland two 
years ago to purge himself of a cocaine habit he couldn't seem to shake in 
the city.

        Thaxton's crew drove to Eugene in mid-June for a two-day anarchist 
conference. When it ended, and his friends drove home, Thaxton stayed behind. 
On June 18, he took part in Reclaim the Streets, a protest in which activists 
around the globe gathered to take back the streets from cars and draw 
attention to reckless consumption.

        The Eugene event drew about 300 people. Protesters burned a U.S. flag 
and set about the ritual smashing of TV sets and other electronics on the 
street. This escalated into a free-form parade in which protesters blocked 
downtown roads.

        Thaxton walked into a bank and lectured customers about their 
"artificial" lifestyles. Others smashed the windows of a furniture store, a 
bank and a hotel before the protest petered out. When police began to make 
arrests, knots of angry protesters reformed. Police fired tear gas canisters, 
and a few activists hurled back rocks and bottles. Thaxton said he tried to 
walk away.

        That's when he found the infamous rock -- and Sgt. Blackwell.

        The rock bounced off Blackwell's upper chest, bending the metal 
insignia on his shirt and badly bruising his shoulder. Thaxton ran away. The 
sergeant and two officers chased him down and spritzed him in the face with 
pepper spray. In his police report, Blackwell said that as he held Thaxton in 
a headlock, the anarchist asked, "Are you the dude I hit?"

        Blackwell said yes.

        "Sorry," Thaxton said. 

        Thaxton apologized again at his trial. His lawyer argued that he 
threw the rock at the armed, charging officer in self-defense. But a jury 
found him guilty of second-degree assault and riot.

        Judge Mary Ann Bearden had discretion in sentencing Thaxton. But on 
Oct. 13, citing in part the intensity of the riot and pointing out that 
Thaxton's victim was a policeman, Bearden imposed an 88-month prison term 
under the state's minimum-mandatory sentencing law. She declined to comment 
on the case because it is on appeal.

        "I think a significant penalty was appropriate for what he did," 
police Chief Jim Hill said. "I don't really feel comfortable saying it was 
too long and getting into those types of things. It's probably arguable. But 
you know, I didn't get hit with the rock."

        The man who did, Blackwell, did not return phone calls to The 
Oregonian. He resigned in March after more than seven years with the police 
department.

        Thaxton's punishment sent a strong message to Oregon's anarchists, 
but it didn't stop them from striking back at the authorities. Six weeks 
later, some took part in riotous protests of the World Trade Organization in 
Seattle. The so-called "Black Bloc" smashed windows and spray-painted 
graffiti -- including the slogan, "Free Rob Thaxton"-- at Nike Town and other 
storefronts. Damage topped $2 million.

        Many of those activists will rally in Eugene today. Keeping tabs on 
the protest will be Michael Dreiling, a University of Oregon sociology 
professor who studies radical movements and was shocked by Thaxton's 
sentence.

        "It was excessive," he said. "And it was that way because it was on 
that fuzzy line between criminal and political deviance." 

You can reach Bryan Denson at 503-294-7614 or by e-mail at 
bryandenson-AT-news.oregonian.com.