ACTIVISTS READY FOR POSSIBLE MASS ARRESTS VANDALISM, PROPERTY DAMAGE NOT RULED OUT.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

Protest organizers said Wednesday that they are urging peaceful demonstrations during next month's Democratic National Convention but said they were prepared for mass arrests and that they can't rule out vandalism and property damage.

The 50 activists gathered outside Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles also said they were afraid of coming under attack from police officers during the Aug. 14-17 event.

``We're hoping that no one will be attacking anyone,'' said community activist Margaret Prescod, a member of the D2KLA protest coalition, which organized the news conference. ``We are not hoping for violence just to prove a point.''

Lt. Horace Frank of the Los Angeles Police Department said officers would do everything to enforce the law - including arresting activists who block traffic.

``If they engage in violations of the law, they're going to be arrested,'' said Frank, a department spokesman.

If anyone ``chooses to break the law, to engage in decadent and criminal activity, we as a law enforcement agency have a duty to respond appropriately and accordingly,'' Frank said.

During the news conference, Prescod decried the ``show that the police put on'' Monday in San Pedro where baton-wielding officers engaged in exercises on breaking up hostile crowds. The event was part of training for 2,000 LAPD officers who will be deployed during the convention.

``That sends the message to us that they intend to (incite) a situation like that,'' Prescod said.

Frank said police would do everything to maintain the peace.

``Our mission is to further peace and harmony, not to incite violence,'' he said.

Activist Jia Ching Chen said he plans to engage in nonviolent protest but that doesn't preclude destructive acts such as throwing a brick through a restaurant window.

``I don't believe that property destruction is violent,'' said Chen, a member of D2KLA and Just Act: Youth Action for Global Justice, who added that he did not advocate such behavior.

Protest organizer Shawn McDougal cited D2KLA's ``Action Guidelines,'' a training manual for demonstrators that prohibits vandalism except in certain circumstances.

``We will not destroy property, excepting at barricades erected to prevent us from exercising our freedoms of speech and assembly,'' said McDougal of the American Friends Service Committee.

Organizers said D2KLA is helping plan and coordinate activists who will demonstrate on behalf of myriad causes during the coming convention. They oppose global trade and its impact on the poor and the environment in Third World nations and will advocate legal relief for immigrants in danger of being deported.

``The World Bank, the (International Monetary Fund), the (World Trade Organization), the roles that they play in shaping global trade impact all of us, whether you live in Los Angeles or Mozambique,'' Chen said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Margaret Prescod, Shawn McDougal, at the microphone, and Jia Ching Chen, right, speak about protest plans.

(2) Ruth Todasco of Los Angeles joins other activists at Staples Center on Wednesday to back plans for protests.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News