NYT: Hundreds Are Arrested as Protests Escalate

[kskiska]

series of demonstrations rippled across Manhattan last night when protesters tried to converge on the Republican National Convention, as a day of planned civil disobedience erupted into clashes with police officers and led to the arrest of hundreds of people.

The wave of confrontations - which included a brawl with the police at the New York Public Library, marauding crowds cursing at delegates in Midtown and the detention of hundreds of protesters near ground zero - created a day of disorder in a convention week already marked by sustained protests against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

Yesterday's incidents stood in contrast to the enormous, mostly orderly antiwar march that drew hundreds of thousands of people to Manhattan on Sunday. But many of those protesting yesterday had purposefully avoided seeking permits for their rallies but had publicized their plans well in advance, leading hordes of police officers in cars, bikes, scooters and vans to flood various parts of the city primed to pre-empt much of the action before it could occur. At least 550 people were arrested.

(snip)

But the protests gained intensity throughout the day, and by late afternoon, the tenor had clearly changed as the police appeared to adjust their tactics to deal with the spontaneous eruptions throughout the city and the crowds of demonstrators grew increasingly volatile as the arrests mounted.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/politics/campaign/01protest.html?hp

[tigereye]

1. wow, I didn't expect that after the sucessful march

on Saturday. oops I meant Sunday.

[MyUncle]

2. Do you think this helps or hurts Democrats?

[Massacure]

4. It depends

Arrests don't necessarily mean much. As long as they don't burn tire and loot shops, I think we will be fine.

[SOS]

7. The junta media

will twist it into a Kerry smear somehow.

[bushwakker]

12. At this point I don't give a shit if it hurts the Democrats

these people are patriots who are doing the most patriotic thing imagineable. i salute them. the media is hopeless and will always look for a way to denigrate these patriots. as for kerry - if he can't effectively defend himself from the sbl's than screw him. some american people believe the sbl's because jk shows no passion in fighting back. at least the demonstrator's have some passion.

[mike_c]

15. agreed, this is democracy in action....

My hat's off to them. I'm listening to an arrestee being interviewed live on Portland Indymedia (from NY), calling in on a cell phone, I presume. He's on the bus, waiting to be processed. He's calling for solidarity in the street.

[bushwakker]

19. i'm a very moderate democrat

who always votes pragmatically for the candidate who can win - thats why i supported jk early on. i still believe he can and that dean would have had no chance but i'm just tired of his cmpaign lacking nay passion or confidence. tired of the party always cowering from the gop or the media. god bless the protesters.

[RobinA]

57. I'm Kinda

thinking like this myself. SOMEthing needs to get people's attention. As long as it stays passionate and doesn't cross over into criminal, i.e. fires and looting, I say it's OK. It may be one way of forcing the issue that there is another way of looking at things than the one parroted by this administration and the current media.

[bushwakker]

66. The Kerry camp could learn s/thing from these folks

[jonnyblitz]

20. ME EITHER. I am sick of hearing that whiny SHIT!

:thumbsup:!!!

[Tatiana]

23. Preach on! n/t

[lostnfound]

56. Been thinkin' I wish they'd done this TO the Democrats (hear me out)

Wonder what the psychological effect would have been.
The BFEE is a blood-sucking armageddon-bringing freedom-destroying war machine. But many of the Dems let them get away with it (by supporting the war, voting for the Patriot Act, not speaking out loudly on every possible occasion, taking corporate PAC money like the Pubs do).

Everytime we protest the Pubs, the Pub-followers think 'those ignorant liberals'. The cognitive dissonance created by seeing a large crowd protest the Dems with signs like 'We need more Robert Byrds' or 'Stop the War' would have been tremendous. Force an awareness of just how centrist our party is..

[jmcgowanjm]

60. #1-the Democrats have almost nothing to do with these actions

#2 Just wait til Bush gets appointed to a 2nd term.
#3 When was the last time someone saw a live
feed from Baghdad? You know we're losing at
least 10 troops a day now.

[nodehopper]

82. Well, it was announced. The A31 coalition had a conference.

It was planned as a day of Civil Disobedience.

[misterphelps]

3. Hats off to the demonstators

RNC is not welcome in this Democratic City. Bush has done nothing to help NYC since 911.... Now here they come to use it as a backdrop for their hipocracy

[Sugarbleus]

6. Frankly, I'm a bit riled up myself after watching the bias in

TV coverage of this PIGfest RNC; along with the audacity coming from the speeches/distortions/lies of the neo cons. I might be inclined to toss a few chairs myself. :grr:

Acting up may not be helping the DNC, but it would make this citizen feel better.

[kskiska]

5. Looks like the Tweety incident might have been a spillover

The article mentions problems in the Herald Square area, where Tweety is stationed.

[NYC]

10. Herald Square is right near Madison Square Garden.

That's why the location was chosen.

[DemoTex]

13. kskiska ...

Check my post in the SC forum on last nights fund-raiser in Greenville. It was overwhelming (in numbers and enthusiasm). Next downtown Greenville Democratic fundraiser is Tuesday, October 5. Exactly 4 weeks before the general election. The place is TBA. I hope it will be larger and quieter than the upstairs bar at O. Hope you might make it over for that. I'm now involved in three counties' campaigns (Dallas, Tx., Transylvania, NC, and Greenville, SC). I am registered to vote in only Greenville County, SC. So I join you against Bu$h in SC!

[kskiska]

24. Thanks, Demo

I'll check out the state forum. I'd like to go if possible.

[playahata1]

67. What happened with Matthews?

Just started my new teaching job: I don't have much time to hang out online these days, and I refuse to watch TV news.

[Crachet2004]

8. Wait till Bush rolls into town...that should REALLY be interesting.

In a way its a shame, because I think a lot of people who would have liked to go in legitimate protest were afraid of getting caught up in a riot...especially some of the older folks-and so, stayed home.

[grytpype]

9. This is horrible.

This is a disaster. Please stop this. Tell anyone you know that is involved in this to stop.

[NYC]

11. Stop what? Protesting?

There are very specific laws in NYC. We are allowed to protest,even without permits.

[sandnsea]

47. They're allowed to gather too

You're no better than they are if bullying and intimidation is your only solution. Sounds to me like the cops were right and the protestors wrong. Nobody was stopping the protests, but the protestors were trying to stop other Americans from exercising their constitutional rights. Infringing on anybody's right to assemble is horribly wrong.

[lostnfound]

58. Would you have been a Tory or a revolutionary?

The powermen of today -- the illegal cabal that is occupying the White House and destroying our Bill of Rights, and their purse-strings -- spend all of their time in a gated and locked community, a sanitized media bubble.

Making them uncomfortable, as opposed to what the revolutionaries might have done to the people who stood in the way of their children's freedom and future, is a sign of admirable restraint, and progress.

[sandnsea]

64. I wouldn't have been delusional

The revolution was so people could express their political views, whatever they are. Last I checked, we were having an election, not a violent overthrow of the government. There's a difference between showing your opposition and intimidating people into silence. I've seen more than enough of the latter by the right, I hate it when I see the same behavior in the left. If that's all we've got left in this country, there's nothing to salvage anyway.

[NYC]

73. What the hell have you been reading?

[NYC]

72. How was I infringing on anyone else's rights by protesting?

Read the NYC laws before saying that I shouldn't be protesting.
Those of you who remain quiet condemn all of us.

[sandnsea]

77. I didn't say that, why do you lie?

Another right wing tactic. You guys get more like them every day. Sorry, it's true. I never said people shouldn't protest. I know it's suits your agenda to manipulate your title to imply that I did, but I didn't and you know it. Explain yourself. Maybe if I understand why extreme leftists lie and manipulate people's words to further their agenda, I'll understand why the extreme right does it.

[NYC]

78. Read what you wrote.

You said:
They're allowed to gather, too.

You're no better than they are if bullying and intimidation is your only solution. Sounds to me like the cops were right and the protesters wrong. Nobody was stopping the protests, but the protesters were trying to stop other Americans from exercising their constitutional rights. Infringing on anybody's right to assemble is horribly wrong.

I never said they were not allowed to gather. In fact, they have gathered.

Bullying and intimidation are my only solution? Whom did I bully or intimidate?

The cops were right and the protesters were wrong? Were you there?

The protesters were trying to stop other Americans from exercising their constitutional rights? Where were you that you saw that?

Why do I lie?

You said: Explain yourself. Maybe if I understand why extreme leftists lie and manipulate people's words to further their agenda, I'll understand why the extreme right does it.

Explain myself so that you can understand why extreme leftists lie? Do you know that I am extreme leftist? If so, where did you get this information?

Protesting is a right. Democracy is not a gift; one must work to maintain it. While I have been exercising and protecting first amendment rights, what have you been doing?

[sandnsea]

79. "Nobody was stopping the protests"

I specifically stated that. The police were simply asking the protestors to allow the Republican delegates to have their convention and have it without having obscenities yelled at them. I've read the proud comments people have made or heard, and cheered, right here on DU. I think it's disgusting.

What am *I* doing? Making sure first amendment rights are really protected, by getting people to the polls. Thinking that screaming obscenities in the streets is saving democracy is juvenile. Freedom of assembly is a precious right and if you truly understood that, you wouldn't do anything to stop those who oppose your views from doing the same.

[NYC]

80. I have not done anything to stop those who oppose my views

from doing the same.

I don't know what you've been reading or doing, but you have made many accusations. Try not accusing people you don't know of doing things that you assume.

[sandnsea]

81. I read the article

For starters. I read DU, it's full of cutesie stories about being rude to delegates. Being a potty mouth is saving democracy? I could care less about the swearing myself, but to intentionally intimidate and offend people to scare them from expressing their views; it's just wrong. Freedom of assembly is not freedom to intimidate others into giving up their freedom to assemble. If you didn't do that, then I have no idea why you're responding to me.

"As protesters converged on Herald Square in the evening, the police tried to contain the increasingly raucous crowds. Hundreds of protesters seemed to get too close to the buses of delegates and the crowd became unruly as the police moved in metal barricades and used scooters to try to push the crowd back.

Those who would not move were arrested, and each time the police moved in to make an arrest, they were swarmed by protesters.

The demonstrators at Herald Square, frustrated by their lack of ability to move closer to Madison Square Garden, began breaking off in clusters of hundreds or so and storming the streets and avenues in Midtown, throwing cones and other objects at cars and windows as they ran."

[NYC]

86. I see. And the article named me specifically?

Direct your venom elsewhere.

[sandnsea]

92. My venom???

What venom? This is all I said:

"You're no better than they are if bullying and intimidation is your only solution. Sounds to me like the cops were right and the protestors wrong. Nobody was stopping the protests, but the protestors were trying to stop other Americans from exercising their constitutional rights. Infringing on anybody's right to assemble is horribly wrong."

No venom. Nothing about not protesting. Just a simple statement about some of the bullying and intimidation that has taken place. "if" that's your solution, then I think it's wrong. No need to distort my words. Again, I don't like it when the left does it any better than when the right does it.

[mike_c]

17. quite the opposite....

Americans need to stand up to the fascists, not go quitely into the gulag.

[jonnyblitz]

21. oh please. go under your bed and hide until its over. n/t

[grytpype]

27. You people are out of your fucking minds.

We had a perfect protest on Sunday. You people are fucking it up. Idiots.

[markses]

28. Well, then we're fucking it up

Too bad.

[NYC]

29. Who is fucking it up?

And how?

People have the right to protest in NYC. Read the laws.

[markses]

30. I believe you are forgetting Harvey Johnson

Harvey Johnson is an imaginary middle class voter living in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, who is at times portrayed as a rabid fan of football, and a raging tough guy, and at other times portrayed as the most jumpy character ever, and therefore alienated by any hint of protests. Harvey Johnson, it is feared, will see the protests against these slimesucking GOP delegates, who are dancing all over our dead bodies here in NYC, and run to Bush with open arms, on account of bein' skeered of the greasy longhairs. remember that we love Harvey Johnson above all else - above even our own rights to walk our streets unmolested. We love Harvey Johnson more than our right to assemble. Harvey Johnson is a great hero of our age, and we are a pack of New York "idiots."

Be a good boy and go light your votive candles to Harvey Johnson. :eyes:

[NYC]

31. Okay. I hadn't met Harvey Johnson.

But now that you've told me, I will cede all civil liberties.

:hi:

[markses]

34. Harvey's a veeeeerrryyy fickle cat

You may want to givve up tofu as well, since he finds it "weird" and "hippie-ish." ;-)

[playahata1]

68. Where do you come off with this "You People" crap?

Who do you think you are?

This country was NOT founded non-violently. It took violence to liberate America from the British. Any sociopolitical change in this country came about via violence -- both physical and rhetorical -- or the threat thereof.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

69. The problem is the police were arresting peoplewho were not violent

The arrests had little rhyme or reason.

[AnnInLa]

71. Yeah, fuck that damn gun control anyway, lol

[markses]

14. Jesus - The second page is really something

This thing is spinning out of control, for real.

Incredible.

[54anickel]

18. Does start to get a bit wild, doesn't it? Seems some of it was out of

shear frustration with the earlier antics of the police changing policy on them. Bait and switch does seem to be the proper term.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

62. When people are repressed,

suppressed, ignored, and lied to; there'll be hell to pay.

No, I'm not condoning violence, and I'm not the type to participate, but I can't honestly say that I couldn't be pushed to my limits by these fascist thugs.

[Just Me]

16. BAH,...same ole' shit, different day,...blown out of proportion,...

,...and another example that there is not only NO LIBERAL MEDIA,...but also NO OBJECTIVE OR REALISTIC MEDIA.

"Fair and Balanced" my ass.

There are some things about this country,...I really freakin' hate,...most of it involves unleashed greed at the expense of basic values.

[leesa]

22. So...did anything actually happen here? Just because someone is

arrested didn't mean anything of significance happened.

Swearing marauders??? what the hell's that?

Permit violations???

This is pure unadulterated horseshit.

DO NOT let them pull off this scam.

[RoystonCrow]

25. its all the anarchists fault

that's all i hear on the news around here. "a group of anarchists were arrested today" or "anarchists attempted a riot downtown today". So if there are any anarchists here, remember: the NYPD is onto you!!

[markses]

26. This certainly qualifies as one of the most bizarre posts in the history

of DU.

And that's saying alot.

Coo coo for Cocopuffs?

[jackson]

32. Remember the Boston Tea Party......

In 1770, a small group that many then called anarchists broke into British ships and vandalized them, dumping tea in Boston harbor to protest the unjust policies of King George. Most people in this country did not support them, then, thinking they went too far. Yet, most of our history books now put them up on a pedestal.
Our country was founded on such protests by a few brave, committed people. The people who took today's actions knew the risks of getting arrested and thought they were worth it. And many of them were obeying police orders when they were arrested.
If there is anything I've learned in the last few years about the Republicans it's this: No matter what you do, they will try to spin it against you.
So we have to spin it this way: Remember the Boston Tea Party, a violent protest in which property was destroyed that is now respectfully taught in our history classes.

[chromotone]

90. Let's see...

broke into British ships--breaking and entering; trespassing
vandalized them--vandalism; destruction of private property
dumping tea in Boston harbor--littering; illegal dumping (how would the EPA have viewed this?)
protest the unjust policies of King George--illegal assembly; inciting to riot, "unpatriotic" acts (denouncing the powers that be)
Didn't they dress up as Indians?--fraud; misrepresentation

I wonder if they treaded onto some expensive, recently-laid (ala Central Park) sod?

Man, those patriot colonists were desperadoes!!!

[SKKY]

33. I really hope this doesn't get out of hand...

...If things get nasty, this can really, really hurt us.

[pfitz59]

35. BS

The shit will really fly if there's a repeat of selection 2000. Fuck the RNC.

[NYC]

36. Ask yourself WHO is getting out of hand.

When people emerged from the subway at the New York Public Library, they were thrown to the ground by the police.

In The New York Times.

[markses]

37. Oh, I know

I'm so scared of being hurt - you and me, us, that is.

Oh brrrrr brrrrr brrrrr. So scared. :scared:

Aaaaaahhh Aaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaah-choobullshit.

[dudeness]

38. things are out of hand scott

but not in NYC..all over the world things are out of hand..in iraq things are out of hand..but in NYC democracy is in hand..I wish I could be there..

[shanti]

76. exactly

remember the demonstrations that we on DU heard about in other countries, france, germany, etc.? i wonder if they are watching us and saying, "it's about time!!" they shouldn't have to do our dirty work for us.

as bob said, get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!

[nodehopper]

83. GET OUT OF HAND???!!!!???

I spent several hours filming at Ground Zero yesterday where the War Resisters League were planning a silent vigil/march in honor of those who died on 9/11 and during the subsequent wars. The WRL is an old super-pacifist organization, comprised largely of OLD PEOPLE who were not violating ANY laws, their procession was going to proceed in a line of twos on the sidewalk, which you don't need a permit for. In SILENCE. Before they got to march one block hundreds of NYPD with riot gear and those freaking orange nets arrived, NETTED all of them (as well as random bypassers, National Lawyer Guild observers and accredited members of the press and loaded them onto CITY BUSES which they had conscripted for these mass arrests.). So, who is getting out of hand?

[tlcandie]

39. If some can .. snipping from this article woudl be great where you are

talkin it really tsarts to turn ugly etc... I'm not registered nor do I register for these sites and no I can't get that register free site to work for me either.

At any rate, would be grealty appreciated! :hi:

[NYC]

40. An excerpt for you.

Also, please note that to log in at The New York Times, use:

Log in name: clipjoint
Password: clipjoint

Later in the afternoon, a clash erupted on the steps of the New York Public Library after two women tried to hang a protest banner over one of the lions atop the library steps. After the police pinned the women to the ground, a crowd of protesters struggled with police, answering requests to move with chants of "Oink, oink, oink."

People coming off the subways were thrown to the ground and the steps of the library were left littered with chairs and debris.

[tlcandie]

43. thanks .. sorry extremely tired tonight and typos deluxe!!! eom

[catzies]

41. you need bugmenot.com

check it out- it really works.

[tlcandie]

44. heard as much, but guess I'm mental because I can't get it to work

or understand it to make it work! At any rate.. thanks anways!

[TahitiNut]

46. You need to allow cookies even when you use 'bugmenot' ...

... preregistered identifiers.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

42. Here's part, and I walked through Herald Square tonight

"...As protesters converged on Herald Square in the evening, the police tried to contain the increasingly raucous crowds. Hundreds of protesters seemed to get too close to the buses of delegates and the crowd became unruly as the police moved in metal barricades and used scooters to try to push the crowd back.

Those who would not move were arrested, and each time the police moved in to make an arrest, they were swarmed by protesters.

The demonstrators at Herald Square, frustrated by their lack of ability to move closer to Madison Square Garden, began breaking off in clusters of hundreds or so and storming the streets and avenues in Midtown, throwing cones and other objects at cars and windows as they ran.

As police drew close, they tried to scatter. Police tackled them in streets, corners and in front of stores. Innocent bystanders were also caught up in the maelstrom.

In one instance, about 200 people broke away from the larger group in a chase that went all the way from 33rd Street and Broadway to 27th Street and Park Avenue, before being tackled by police. At 27th Street and Madison Avenue, protesters set fire to a large pile of trash near the Carlton Hotel as delegates and other guests made their way to the convention."

Now, all I want to say is that the police basically cordoned off MSG/Penn Station and moved back blockades in progressive rings "pushing back" protestors. They controlled intersections and all pedestrian movement. 7th Ave. and 34th street became barriers, and I couldn't walk north closer to 7th than 5th Avenue.
The police plan seemed to be to divide the protestors into smaller groups, like they do with the "pens".
The protestors couldn't get close to MSG and so the police themselves became a target of their frustration.

[tlcandie]

45. Thanks!!! eom

[Kolesar]

53. yes, thanks for filling us in ... eom

[Dancing_Dave]

48. This is a definitive moment in our History, like Woodstock

The anti-RNC protests going on now define an era and a new generation of political activists, like Woodstock or the 1967 anti-Vietnam-War march against the Pentagon immortalized by Norman Mailer's "The Armies of the Night". This is it. This is the Times we live in.

[Eurobabe]

49. If these people are convicted they can't vote?

Maybe this is the real purpose. Wipe some more protesters from the voter rolls? I am not sure what constitutes a 'felony.' Probably not civil disobedience.

[ima_sinnic]

50. NO! absolutely not...

felonies are serious crimes of rape, murder, armed robbery.
these "crimes" are about as serious as parking tickets.

[nodehopper]

84. almost no one arrested gets charged with felonies

With some notable exceptions, they are kept overnight or longer, then processed, then given an ACD or a DAT when charges are thrown out. The point is to demoralize them and to keep them off the streets and prevent them from protesting.

[mahina]

51. Thank you protestors..you are showing them we will not be silent.

It will make them consider that we may withold cooperation with another coup. Consent of the governed and all that.
Mahalo!!

[Voltaire99]

52. If you're a scared centrist who wishes this would all just stop. . .

. . .be sure to read and/or watch some non-corporate media for a change, if you hope at all to draw some realistic conclusions about what is happening in NYC.

Democracy Now has been broadcasting footage of police violence that gives the lie to the official claims. You can stream it via democracynow.org. DN's superb convention coverage is worth checking out, too.

[lostnfound]

59. That's right. Plus, the majority of arrestees did nothing illegal.

They simply tried to engage the minds of some people who desparately need to be engaged.

This isn't the 60s, and these people are seriously organized.

[G_j]

54. Arrests, agent provocateurs, and a wide mix of protesting at Herald Square

OUTGUNNED, OUTMATCHED
Don Hazen, AlterNet
The NYPD protester strategy on Tuesday was akin to the U.S. military's
display of overwhelming and sometimes unnecessary force in Iraq.
http://alternet.org/election04/19744

PROTESTERS PLAY HARDBALL
Evan Derkacz, AlterNet
Arrests, agent provocateurs, and a wide mix of protesting hits
New York's Herald Square.
http://www.alternet.org/election04/19742/
-->> Rachel Neumann struggles with assessing the success of
the protests:
http://www.alternet.org/election04/19743/

[colonel odis]

55. the gloves came off in 2000 in florida

when the khaki brigade made up of congressional staffers tried to shut down legal vote recounts.

so i believe republican candidates, delegates, and supporters are fair game. but that's just my opinion.

there are obviously many more demonstrators than there are cops. so why not use those numbers to our advantage?

why not surround madison square garden so no on gets in or out? block the place and shut the whole circlejerk down.

[jmcgowanjm]

61. That's Right, it's not every vote counts, it's count every vote

The Dems, by acquiescing in the Coup2000, (see Gore
presiding over his demise in the Senate while
brave black women demand justice), have written their
epitaph.

The big $ off the table of the Fat Cat Suits is just
too tempting. 2 partys for the wealthiest 1%, none for
everyone else.

[Laughing Mirror]

63. One of their strategies seems to be to diminish number of protesters

by making mass arrests and hauling them over that empty hangar on the river they hoped to hold 1,000 per day. In the first fews days of the protests, the number of people arrested was way below that 1,000 per day they had been counting on. And they have to justify their planning, they have to meet their quota. By drumming up trouble, penning people in, ramming scooters into the crowd, locking up people for no good reason, they hope to scare off others who might feel like coming and joining in on all the fun. I wonder how successful their strategies will be? If protestors are as furious at the attempts to obstruct freedom of speech as I am, I would say not too successful.

[Right Makes Might]

65. Report from the front lines (sort of)

Although I didn't take part in yesterday's demos I'll report what I saw with my own little eyes at Union Square.

I got there at about 7:00 to a park overflowing with a massive (and edgy) police presence, more than "normal", even in these tense times. There were crowds of spirited but calm people, mostly young, talking agitatedly with a clump of cops surrounded by an even larger clump of protesters, many who were holding cameras high up to catch whatever they were discussing. I didn't hear what was going on but from what I could pick up the police were telling people to basically "move along" even though no one was doing anything disruptive.

Went into Barnes and Noble and when I came out 2 hours later there was met with a wall of police in riot gear at the opposite end of the park from where the protesters were gathered. There were police vans and buses everywhere - it looked like they were expecting a riot. When I went down to the south end it was basically the same scene as 2 hours prior - that is, calm. The protesters were continuing to talk and hold signs, a band in "brown shirts" was lining up to play, and a samba-protest line started up with music playing and people clapping and lining up behind them.

That's all I saw. I went down into the subway and when I got up this morning there's all this shit on the news about all the protests and "pre-emptive" arrests which thankfully derailed any "potential violence." *roll eyes* I guess international policy has become domestic policy.

[NYC]

74. It was 8:30 p.m. when the police vans went rushing down there.

I also saw a few horse transport vehicles go by, but not very many. (Shortly thereafter, the arrests on 35th St. started.)

[Right Makes Might]

70. The latest from Common Dreams

Police Arrest Legal RNC Protesters


NEW YORK - August 31 - "They’re arresting everybody," said War Resisters League Treasurer John M. Miller over his cell phone.

He was speaking from Ground Zero, where WRL’s August 31 protest had begun an hour earlier. Along with many other antiwar groups, WRL had planned a nonviolent civil disobedience protest against Bush administration policies.

The WRL action was to begin with a legal vigil at Ground Zero, followed by a procession—marching two by two, which is legal anywhere in this country, with or without a permit—from Ground Zero to Union Square and then on to Madison Square Garden. Once there, those who chose to risk arrest planned to hold a die-in representing the cost of the Iraq war in general and, in particular, the dead of Iraq and the United States.

The protesters never left Ground Zero. As soon as they attempted to begin their march, the police, after warning them not to block the sidewalks, cordoned them off so that they couldn’t help blocking the sidewalk. Then, without giving any order to disperse or risk arrest, they began the arrests. As of 5:45, they had arrested approximately 200—including press and legal observers carrying ID identifying them as nonparticipants.

"We thought the First Amendment guaranteed our right to march," said Frida Berrigan of the WRL National Committee. "We had planned something where those who wanted to risk arrest could do so and others could support them doing something that was perfectly legal. But apparently the New York City Police Department has canceled the First Amendment for this week."

Bruce Bentley, of the National Lawyers Guild, which is representing the demonstrators, called the illegal arrests "another example of police misconduct during this past week."

Berrigan herself was not arrested and at this writing is continuing with the next phase of the protest, marching toward Union Square, where, demonstrators report, a large police presence is gathered awaiting the protesters.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0901-01.htm

[GHOSTDANCER]

75. NPR Reporting 1000 arrests......

<http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3882641>

[goclark]

85. How did protesters get into MSG

and scream at Cheney?

How did the protester get into MSNBC? Where is Homeland Security?

[NYC]

87. 7 people reached the convention floor.

I spoke to someone who knows them. They said it was "easy", despite what I have been hearing on the radio that delegates have to pass 3 security checks to reach the convention floor.

So much for security.

[goclark]

88. Did those brave souls get arrested?

It is interesting to me that the Repubs won't let anyone get into one of their Rallies unless they sign an oath,bow down to GW and pledge undying love with cheers and rah rah's.

And, in the NYC situation,the protesters are able to walk into their PURE MSG home and let Cheneyburton know exactly how they feel!
Finally three or more American citizens are able to express their feelings verbally to our head government "EMPLOYEES."

Imagine that!

So much for HOMELAND security!

[NYC]

91. Yes, they were arrested. That's how I found out

about conditions in Guantanamo on the Hudson. (From a friend of theirs, though he didn't specifically say they were in there. I do believe they were, otherwise the conversation wouldn't make sense. It is sometimes very difficult to converse at protests because of the noise.)

This evening, Thursday, I heard that a man and a woman made it onto the convention floor. That means that nothing was done to improve security.

[realFedUp]

89. "Pre-emptive arrests"

We're not in Kansas anymore toto.