War Protest, DC
04/19-22/2003
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Peacemakers On The Scene |
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War Protest, DC |
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I wanted to update everyone on the protests of the past weekend and give you my impressions. We started out in Chris' car and Jesse's van on Thursday night around 7pm. Four of us in the car and 5 in the van. Shortly after entering PA we got separated in a construction area, so it was Friday afternoon before we reconnected. The van made it to a homeless shelter for the night; the rest of us slept in the car. The van group hooked up with the School of Americas Watch (SOAW) gathering near the Capitol; the car group went out to American University for various teach-ins. That night we re-gathered and went to our new sleeping spots.
Others came down on Friday by bus, or other vehicles. People left on Sunday and Monday as well. Over 50 from Rochester area and surrounding campuses, including Brockport Students Against War which had 12 people go on the bus and 4 of us by car. Each day had various activities going on around the city. On Saturday the group I hung with chose to join the 10:30am, Stop US Tax-Funded Aid to Israel Now! (SUSTAIN) March. The march started at the Washington Hilton and along the way joined other marches in progress and at 3pm we all converged at the National Mall facing the Capitol Building. The police put the crowd at 75,000 people, since it is to their benefit to underestimate the crowd size the numbers may have been as high as 100,000. On Sunday morning we joined the Mobilize for Globalize for Justice (meet & greet the delegates at the IMF/ World Bank Buildings) March. The march ended at the Washington Monument and the Sylvan Theater where performers entertained and informed the crowd. That night the Church of the Brethren, where over 50 protestors were housed, hosted workshops dealing with actions being planned for the next day. Monday saw everyone gather at the Washington Monument for an unpermitted march in support of the People of Columbia and a call to close the School of Americas (renamed W.H.I.S.C.) located at Ft. Benning, Georgia. The march proceeded across the street disrupting traffic and then made its way over the Mall. Police on motorcycles, bikes, foot and cars followed us. Walking on the sidewalk with a protest sign in DC is legal, so those that did not want to risk arrest were told to stay on the sidewalks. At one point in the march some people were on the sidewalk when motorcycle cops went up on the walks. I personally saw one guy get run into, he got back up only to get hit again by the same motorcycle cop. I heard a woman was also hit. A group of about 19 then blocked off a Capitol entrance by sitting in front of it; this was a symbolic action as concrete barriers already blocked this entrance. They were all arrested. At that point the police tried to block protestors from enteri! ng the grounds near the Senate Office Bldgs., we broke through the lines before they had closed in their ranks. The police then ringed all of us on the grounds for an hour as leaders of the march negotiated. They wanted to know if we were under arrest, being detained or if we could be released to reach the park, which we had a permit for, a block away. The march proceeded to the park where the organizers talked to the crowd and musicians sang songs of protest. Once it was found out were fellow marchers that had been arrested were being held, others proceeded to the jails. Outside we played drums and chanted for several hours till everyone but Jennifer was released. We had been informed she had been moved and probably would not get out till the next day. Jennifer had been in our affinity group and Chris and I were in the group risking arrest but we never reached the entrance we were supposed to block. Jennifer had gotten separated from us when the motorcycle cops went on the sidewalk, so decided to join the group she was arrested with. 102 were arrested over the 4 days. Around 40 bicyclists that are promoting the use of bicycles rather than cars, approx. 25 people associated with Food Not Bombs and the Catholic Worker that were serving food to the poor in a parking garage, they had permission. The rest were the ones arrested for blocking Capitol entrances. Monday night we joined the protest at the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro Israeli group) meeting at the Washington Hilton. On the way, we had to navigate around blocked streets to join the rally. At one point I accidentally kicked over a dozen doughnuts that the cops had on the ground while manning a roadblock. We stayed there from around 4 to 11pm. Several times there were tense situations but no arrest or problems. The rally had two main points: one in front of the Hilton and one down a side street were a heavy police presence and a corral separated protestors and the bus loads of delegates going to the conference. One from the pro Israeli side was arrested for punching a protestor. At one point 20-30 police in full riot gear and large tanks of pepper spray or some type of gas appeared in the center of the crowd. Several police video cameras videotaped us from atop buildings, police outside the corral area and even cops in the crowd. Police ringed! the area and police choppers hovered overhead with cameras, after dark they also used spotlights on the helicopters to light up the protest area. The following day only Chris, Mike, Kostya, Greg and myself remained, except for Jennifer who was in jail. We all went to the courthouse to be there for Jennifer's hearing. We also meet with two women that are part of the legal collective, they were tremendous help. We had been told Jennifer's hearing would be at 11am but found out it would be 2pm after we got there. Shortly before the hearing while sitting outside the courtroom an old man sat next to us and engaged us in conversation, he played dumb at first. Because of his questioning I asked if he was a lawyer and he told us he was the prosecutor in Jennifer's case. At that point we gave him no information but he already knew we were doing jail solidarity for her. Once in the courtroom, Jennifer was supposed to be up first but they by passed her and then sent her back out. They went through everyone else on the line up before getting back to Jennifer, all a ploy to jab at Jennifer and us. The judge even got u! p to take a break but then sat down and after some game playing they announced they had lost her paperwork and released her and dropped everything. It was 4pm or after at this point. Outside the prosecutor asked us to thank him, none of us thought he deserved much thanks to say the least. Then over to the jail to reclaim Jennifer's belongings, out to eat and then we got Jennifer a place to stay, as she was taking the bus to Virginia the next day. We got on the road around 8pm. Then back into Rochester around 6:30am on Wednesday. All in all, I feel the protests were well worth it but also feel like we need to get outside the box police put us in. We need to find new tactics, and become more cohesive as a group. Towards that end, a few of us will be heading to Kent State next weekend to be part of the 32nd anniversary, of the 4 killed there during an antiwar protest against the Vietnam War. Peace, Jeff Jeff McKenzie reporting. |
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