You'll notice, in both videos, that the protesters are covering their faces.
There's good reason for this -- among the many last-minute provisions passed in Copenhagen was one that made ski masks illegal (as well as any other headgear that would cover your face and prevent identification). Leaving aside the staginess of both protestors and police preparations (two weeks ago, an article titled "Copenhagen Talks Tough" bragged about the three dozen steel cages assembled to house the rabble), shit like this is something to worry about. It's not tear gas and riot gear that are the problem --- it's the expansion of surveillance, with its incipient denial of the most basic form of self-defense, the ability to protect your own identity.
The Copenhagen talks have been deliberately staged in the language of street warfare -- police checkpoints, gated buildings, cages and detention centers -- which largely a demonstration (lighting a car on fire and dousing it, to show off) At the same time, it has prompted an alarming expansion of police power: a law authorizing preemptive arrest, the arrest of Tadzio Mueller, and the banning of face masks, with the implication that protesters (peaceful or non) should expect their participation to be documented.
Legitimate protest is often, by definition, unsanctioned --- that's part of the point, and legislation passed to prevent the most basic form of civil self-defense (the obvious utility of carrying shields when police show up in riot gear, to the very basic right to protect your identity) is a pretty basic violation of civil rights. Activist groups have decried the Copenhagen protests as a human rights issue (arbitrary arrest, home invasions, cages in prison detention centers) -- but banning ski masks by non-violent protestors is a much more more malevolent turn toward police state -- not least, because it was so quickly legitimized by a parliamentary vote. The fact that it's pageantry is kind of beside the point. It's worth worrying about.
