If the Austin Police Department had used the same degree of force against a political protest in Austin as it did against a group of Mardi Gras revellers on the evening of February 24, 2001, the Austin progressive and radical activist community would be up in arms.

People would be demanding that justice be done. There would be talk of class action lawsuits. Testimonials would be gathered from those beaten, pepper sprayed, shocked with stun guns, and attacked with rubber bullets and bean bag rounds. Emergency meetings would be called. Protests would be organized. Email listservs would be hot with news and discussion about this incident.

But following this past Saturdayıs melee in which APDıs Crowd Management Team - the very same that was on display during the Fortune 500 Forum protests in October - finally had a chance to use its new non-lethal equipment, the left has been exceedingly quiet on this matter.

Is it because it was a group of Mardi Gras revellers and not a group of political activists who were attacked by the police that the left has effectively ignored this incident?

Iım on a number of Austin email listservs (Accion Zapatista, NOWTO, IMC-Austin, Austin Democracy Coalition) where any statements or condemnations of the policeıs actions from activist groups would have appeared. And I havenıt seen many at all.

I have seen one call for action - not on the above lists. And it came from Ann Del Llano, an attorney who works with the Sunshine Project, and who is very involved right now with police accountability work in preparation for an upcoming City Council meeting on the matter. She has said that there should be an investigation of the policeıs actions on the night of Feb. 24. Also there was some discussion about this at Mondayıs Democracy Coalition meeting, along with some followup on its listserv.

The bulk of commentary on the Mardi Gras police riot Iıve seen on email or posted to the austin.indymedia.org Web site is in the form of unknown anonymous reports from the street.

Yet, this past week on the email lists I have seen notices about politics happening elsewhere. Thereıs an upcoming film about Iraqi sanctions. People are going to the Duro plant on the border. People are organizing to go to Mexico to join the Zapatista march.

Where is the outrage at APDıs actions. Why hasnıt the Austin Police and Justice Coalition, an umbrella organization for Austin progressive community, issued a statement? Why hasnıt the Green Party issued a statement? Why havenıt radical labor organizers issued a statement? Why wasnıt the police riot part of the conversation at the MACC last night at the Zapatista benefit?

On Wednesday night at Cafe Mundi there was a benefit for the Huntsville 8. And at this venue, people did raise their voices against the police. It was aired. Poets and musicians spoke out. And this is good. But not good enough.

Where are the progressive and radical attorneys? Who is collecting the names of all those arrested? Who is gathering testimonials and stories about what happened? Who is calling for an investigation? Who is putting pressure on the police department, on the mayors office, and on city council?

Why arenıt we talking about it? Isnıt it political when a para-military force uses non lethal weapons against unarmed civilians? Then why aren't political groups pushing this incident to the top of our agenda?