10 = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2002
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Wesley Teal, of Lawrence, helps set up the medical aid station on the campgrounds of the North American Anarchists Gathering at Clinton Lake on June 6. About 500 registrants took part in the annual four-day gathering, which works to increase dialogue about democratic ideas.
Convention aims to dispel myths about anarchists
Nate Hoffman can count on most of his fingers some of the red flags that pop up when someone mentions the word "anarchist" to the average American.
By Mandalee Meisner Special to the Kansan
"The Anarchist Cookbook, violent images, a man dressed in black throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers," he said, sitting in the shade at the entrance to the 2002 North American Anarchist Convention (or NAAC), held June 6 to 9 just outside of Lawrence.
The gathering brought in members of the nationwide anarchist community for a weekend of discourse. Gatherers attended discussion-based workshops dealing with various issues within the movement.
Hoffman, a junior at KU and one of 20 local organizers for the event, said the stereotypical bombthrower was the exception rather than the rule.
"We just plain aren't terrorists," he said.
"We don't harm other human beings."
Hoffman watched as cars pulled in and out of the campgrounds near Clinton
Lake, where the event took place. Beyond the lines of parked vehicles, tents pitched by more than 300 attendees lined a clearing. In the distance, one of the workshop leaders held a circle of spectators in rapt attention.
"It's a common misconception that anarchists are out to destroy something," Christopher Plummer, another organizer, said. "If you look at the itinerary for the workshops, you can't find one that's about taking something apart. It's only about building and making things better."
Plummer served eight years in the Texas prison system after raiding the home of a neo-Nazi group in Houston. He fidgeted with his walkie-talkie. A Kansas Highway Patrol officer had recently visited the campsite, delivering information that members of the National Alliance, a prominent neo-Nazi group, might show up to cause a disturbance. The officer had asked the organizers to notify authorities if gathering attendees saw any members of the Aryan organization.
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