Rage Against the Machine: Anatomy of a Protest

You could tell right away, just walking up to the Target Center for the highly anticipated Rage Against the Machine show, that the cops expected trouble.

You could tell, by the way they lined up around the entire building in full riot gear and wooden sticks, while the fans were going INSIDE the center for the show they paid $80 to go see. (Seriously? They're going to riot BEFORE getting their money's worth?).

Rage, in fact, implored the audience to be peaceful and not give the cops any reason to arrest them after the show. We all left tired, quiet, affable, looking for a place to go drink. And it does take a little while for 15,000 pedestrians to clear an intersection.