Crawford authorities arrest five in Bush protest

[icymist]

Crawford authorities arrest five in Bush protest
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2005-08-07 23:26. Media
By MIKE ANDERSON Tribune-Herald staff writer

CRAWFORD — Authorities arrested five protesters Saturday who were among a group of about 100 in Crawford attempting to demonstrate on the road leading to the Western White House. President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard had spent Friday and Saturday in meetings and relaxing at the ranch.

The group had traveled to Central Texas in a caravan of about 30 vehicles after an Austin rally protesting the policies of the Bush administration. The group was a conglomeration of several smaller groups with disparate beefs with the federal government on issues from workers' rights to the environment. All, though, were set to protest the recent war in Iraq.

The caravan arrived in Crawford about 7 p.m., coming to a stop when it reached a line of about 35 officers blocking Prairie Chapel Road at the city limits. Though Bush was at the ranch at the time, Howard had left hours earlier.

The group parked its vehicles and got out, carrying signs with such slogans as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Impeach Bush." Some participants carried coffins fashioned out of black-painted cardboard, filled with stuffed animals, covered in red dye to simulate blood.

Though most of the protesters appeared to be in their 20s, a few of them were old enough to have participated in the demonstrations of the 1960s.

Across the intersection stood officers with the McLennan County Sheriff's Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Crawford police. Many of the officers held plastic restraints used to bind wrists during arrests.

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