Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: September 15, 2007 7:27:20 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: HUNDREDS Arrested in WashDC Anti-War Protest
HEADLINE: [1] Dozens Arrested in Antiwar Protest Near Capitol
Ken Cedeno for The New York Times
[2] At least 150 people were taken into custody in Washington on
Saturday at a demonstration. .
By DAVID JOHNSTON
New York Times, September 16, 2007
WASHINGTON. Sept. 15 — A rally on Saturday to protest the war in
Iraq, which began with a peaceful march of several thousand people
to the Capitol, ended with dozens of arrests in a raucous
demonstration that evoked the angry spirit of the Vietnam era
protests of more than three decades ago.
The police, including some officers dressed in riot gear, tried to
halt demonstrators as they sought to climb over a low wall near the
Capitol after a march that had begun near the White House in a
festive atmosphere.
The protest grew tense as the chanting, placard-carrying
demonstrators gathered near the Capitol for a planned “die-in.”
Officers struggled to keep demonstrators from breaking through
their ranks and began arresting those who tried.
Demonstrators were pushed to the ground, placed in plastic
handcuffs and led away to the Capitol. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a
spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, said that the authorities had
arrested [3] 189 people and that they would be charged with
illegally crossing a police line. Two protesters and two police
officers received minor injuries, Sergeant Schneider said.
The antiwar demonstration was held on the same day as a separate
event sponsored by a group called Gathering of Eagles, a veterans
group.
Before the antiwar marchers arrived, there was a brief physical
altercation between some members of the antiwar group Code Pink and
some of the demonstrators who said they were there to support the
troops. The police moved in to break up the scuffle. As the antiwar
demonstrators moved along Pennsylvania Avenue, the two sides
continued to trade chants and sometimes heated messages, but lines
of police officers intervened to keep the opposing sides apart.
“What troubles me, the thing that is so dismaying, is they don’t
realize the big picture,” said John Aldins, 54, who came from
Media, Pa., with his wife, Karen, and daughter, Rachel, to show
their support for the troops. The Aldins have three other children
serving in the military. Rachel Aldins will join the Army in the
fall to serve as a nurse.
“It’s not just Iraq, it’s the whole Middle East,” Mr. Aldins said.
“It’s not a red, blue or pink issue. It’s an all-of-us issue.”
The protests came during a week in which Iraq dominated the
attention of the White House and Congress. In a speech on Thursday,
President Bush sought support for a substantial military presence
in Iraq and a gradual troop reduction.
Members of the Answer Coalition, the umbrella organization of
activist groups behind the demonstration, are demanding an
immediate troop withdrawal. Some of the protesters called for Mr.
Bush’s impeachment. Speakers at the rally included familiar
political and antiwar activists, among them Cindy Sheehan, Ralph
Nader and Ramsey Clark.
Brian Becker, a national coordinator for the coalition, said in a
statement: “What Bush really intends is to keep U.S. troops in Iraq
for years or decades to come. He plans to move forward with a
policy that will continue to kill thousands of U.S. service members
and hundreds of the thousands of Iraqis.”
Several marchers said they were demonstrating against what they
called the Bush administration’s false assertions about Iraq. Kim
Druist, 39, a nurse from Plainsboro, N.J., who wore a camouflage
shirt to represent solidarity with American troops, said she
intended to be arrested to protest the testimony by Gen. David H.
Petraeus earlier in the week in which he said there had been
progress in Iraq. Ms. Druist referred the statement to as propaganda.
Some people said they were protesting other Bush administration
policies.
Chris Hager, 62, of Falls Church, Va., and Wendy Salomon, 52, of
Arlington, Va., walked through the crowd assembled in front of the
White House wearing orange jumpsuits and dark hoods to represent
the detainees in Guantánamo Bay and other detention centers. “We
are here to help to get the American people to think about what is
being done in our name,” Mr. Hager said.
He added: “We want to make people think about what is happening.
This certainly wasn’t the country I was brought up to believe in.”
Sarah Abruzzese and Holli Chmela contributed reporting.
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