I have lived in this community most of my life, over half of which has been spent in service as an anarchist.

As such, I have always enjoyed reading Detective Ramesh Nyberg's occasional column, as he is the worst possible spokesman for his cause of -- law and order, is it?

Last week's Soapbox piece was no exception [Herald downplayed police restraint].

I'll begin by correcting the inaccuracies contained therein:

• Anarchists only managed to destroy millions of dollars in property in Seattle. There was minor property destruction in Quebec City. And scores of people were injured in both cities (as in Miami), thanks primarily to assaults by police.

• Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Nyberg, no one was going to crush your skull with bricks, lumber or ball bearings at a demonstration. That is called murder. Two protesters, however, remain hospitalized with head injuries inflicted by police.

• The Herald was very good about identifying, mischaracterizing and excoriating anarchist and the Black Bloc tactic, not only in editorials supporting the new demonstration ordinance, but also in innumerable articles meant to scare the public and cloud the FTAA issues.

• Your house, car and TV (American essentials all) are personal property. Property targeted for damage or destruction is private, usually affiliated with unethical multinationals, or simply existing for profit (i.e. banks). So sleep sound, Mr. Nyberg, anarchists are not after your toaster.

• Mr. Nyberg forgot to mention the gaggle of protesters who lobbed a kitchen sink at the police line -- an accusation almost as preposterous as throwing feces and urine.

• Paint balloons are used not because paint is toxic and flammable, but because it stains helmet visors, while also adding color and verve to dreary, monochromatic riot suits.

• No businesses were damaged and no cars overturned and burned because that was not on the itinerary. Neither was storming the AmericanAirlines Arena or blocking Port Boulevard.

Mr. Nyberg may also wish to take credit for the beautiful weather on Nov. 20, as the many police helicopters deployed deterred black-clad rain clouds from unleashing moisture on our fair city.

• Use of a ''less than lethal'' arsenal was not minimal but abundant. The many civil suits being prepared against the city and police will attest to this.

• Even a cursory review of The Herald's FTAA coverage over the pass six months will reveal a gleaming, pro-law-and-order stance in article after article.

The Miami Herald Publishing Co. donated $217,000 worth of advertising space in support of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and another $62,500 in cash to subsidize the ministerial.

It was in its interest to vilify demonstrators, highlight the possibility of civil strife above all else, and depict security personnel as city saviors -- and staff writers did textbook work.

If what you desire is a print version of Fox News, Mr. Nyberg, just sit tight. In a few years the collusion between capital and the press in the U.S. may be complete.

However, Mr. Nyberg chooses to spin the events during FTAA week, the reality is that security was there to harass participants for their political views.

Businesses were threatened for displaying anti-FTAA literature; activists were stopped, questioned and detained for handing out fliers or fitting the protester profile; Surveillance of the protester welcome center was overt and constant.

That is how someone can come to that conclusion, Mr. Nyberg.

But perhaps that should not matter to anyone. After all, according to Mr. Nyberg, anarchists are thugs and hoodlums with no ``message or cause.''

Yet at the same time, he casts us as ``anti-capitalist and anti-government?''

Of course, we have a message and a cause, both supported by our own structure and order.

In this instance, the aim was to throw our bodies on the gears of the machine through whatever necessary and appropriate street tactics.

Clearly, we did not succeed in breaching the perimeter or disrupting the ministerial, but we did succeed in exposing the state and capital for the menace that it is. With full city support, police erected fences to keep the masses at bay and ultimately clubbed, gassed and fired projectiles upon senior citizens and other unarmed participants simply because they could.

Local and visiting anarchists and anti-capitalists knew there would be an overwhelming security presence long before protest week because the media -- as police mouthpiece -- was very forthcoming about the details of the deployment.

Nevertheless, we hitchhiked, train-hopped, or scrapped together travel funds to participate.

Young people and committed activists from all corners of the country converged, and through ingenuity and creativity converted a drab warehouse in Wynwood into a colorful and fully functional information and welcome center.

We also bravely convened two unauthorized marches on Nov. 20 -- in solidarity with local and national groups -- uncertain as to what kind of police violence awaited us, and in the face of all manner of threats and harassment from Miami's political and financial elite.

So praise be to the anarchists and other activists whom, if only for a week, added their narratives to the myriad stories of suffering and struggle prevalent in Miami, the poorest city in the U.S.

We fight for a world where breaking storefront windows is not considered more obscene than the violence of abject poverty; where water and other essentials are not commodified; where medicine patent rights are not placed above the health and survival of thousands across the globe; where building and funding prisons does not take priority over building and funding schools; and where civic participation is a tangible, everyday concern, not imposed from on high by experts, authorities and a ruling class.

Mr. Nyberg credits the fact that no live ammunition was used during FTAA week to police restraint. This more or less hints at his perspective.

It is a documented truth that Miami's police department is the most-indicted in the country. Perhaps this is why when protesters were pushed into Overtown by the police assault, residents voiced support, and in some instances offered shelter.

In the people versus power dynamic, especially as practiced by police in South Florida, the poor and people of color are always on the losing side.

My body still aches from the ''less than lethal'' ordnance I was shot with. And like Mr. Nyberg, I too, had to neglect my loved ones -- and I got about seven hours of sleep during FTAA week.

But not allowing hemispheric elites to invade this community without a challenge made it all worthwhile. I would don my bandanna and cumbersome gear in a heartbeat and do it all over again because Miami is my home.

I am very proud to be an anarchist in this community. I am happy to wake up this morning with the knowledge that history (and every aspect of the present that does not involve chains and torture, disappearances and massacres) belongs to the people, to those charged with the spirit of resistance across the world -- and in your own back yard, Mr. Nyberg.

S. R.

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