What does mischief mean to an anarchist?

I can now reveal the identity of the leftwing radical who shot video last weekend during the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) in New Orleans.

As I posted earlier, a protester using the pseudonym Francis N. Blake captured video of their march to the Hilton Riverside, where the SRLC was held, as well as footage of a splinter group who continued on to the street outside Brennan’s restaurant, where a separate Republican fundraiser was being held, and where a member of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s campaign staff was later allegedly assaulted. According to reports, Jindal staffer Allee Bautsch suffered a broken leg, and her boyfriend suffered a concussion and fractured nose and jaw in the incident.

I took a break from the conference Friday night to see what I could find out about the protest, which another SRLC attendee had casually informed me about earlier that evening. As I approached Mr. “Francis N. Blake” and a group of four or five other young, white males, one of them shouted, “Racist! Sexist! Homophobe!” etc., etc.

Over the course of an hour, I spoke to these guys, asking questions, trying to get to the bottom of who they were and what they were really after. Most of them sulked away after finding me to be a mellow, reasonable, inquisitive member of the “media,” as my badge indicated, signaling that I might be friendly to their cause. As they left, one said something like, “wow, you really managed to calm us down.”

One fellow stayed behind, however, Mr. Francis N. Blake, who had earlier introduced himself as “Daniel.” He informed me of the march and the rally that had taken place outside Brennan’s, and he proved it by handing me the rally fliers, and by writing down the address of his YouTube channel. When I saw the name Francis N. Blake, I said, “hey, that’s not your name.” He responded with something like, “no, I use lots of pseudonyms to keep them confused.” I didn’t ask who *they* were.

With little effort, however, I happened upon his Facebook account.

Meet Daniel Mauch. He’s a self-described “anarchist” who is “considering becoming the leader of a mind control cult to pay for retirement.”

Mauch is a fan of Anarchy, Left Turn, and the US Social Forum.

He helps run the Iron Rail bookstore / library in New Orleans and he’s a frequent poster on Leftists in the U.S. South, where he wrote recently:

There are accusations (made some time after the fact) that one of Jindal’s aides was attacked on friday night by people who had attended the protest.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/04/police_release_statement_on_ji.html

Since around midnight, Right Wing wingnuts have been fllooding the videos I put on youtube o…f the protest (such as this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-pYYlHiY0g ) with fuckwit comments concerning said accusations.

and

There’s a lot of potential here. For example, if this group had existed a month or two earlier, the SRLC protests could have involved many more people from the region outside New Orleans.

On his own wall, he wrote this:

I found a bar with a strong wifi signal and am uploading the rest of the vids from yesterday’s protest. My offer to film any mischief making today still stands. Give me a call if you’re doing any street theatre in the FQ.

What does “mischief” mean to an anarchist?

What does “street theatre in the FQ” mean to an anarchist?

Is it outside the realm of possibility that it meant violent attacks on the Republican fundraisers who went to the French Quarter that night, who ended up with a broken leg, a concussion, and a fractured nose and jaw?

What role did these anarchists play in stirring up the hate that may have led to these attacks?

Someone should ask Daniel Mauch, Joanna Dubinsky, and the other radicals and anarchists who organized the rally that led protesters to the scene of the alleged crime.

My thanks go to The Hayride for continuing to follow this story. The people who did this need to be brought to justice.