Police break up anti-war meeting in Washington

This is an update of all the events that will take place in DC this week. Just thought you might want to know.

A week of events meant to crank up a national demonstration against the war in Iraq is set to begin Saturday, with a 1,000-person "die-in" at the U.S. Capitol led by current and former American troops and accompanied by taps and a mock 21-gun salute.

The die-in will be the culmination of a march and rally. Organizers hope the event will spur people in the antiwar movement to move from protesting to performing acts of civil disobedience that "get in the way of the war machine," said Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, at a news conference yesterday at the National Press Club.

The group's permit with the U.S. Park Police is for 10,000 people, a source said, but ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, expects tens of thousands, Becker said. More than 1,000 people had signed up on the group's Web site as of yesterday to lie down at the die-in, he said, which is meant to represent Americans, Iraqis and others who have died in the war. Organizers expect the number to double or triple by Saturday.

Daily antiwar events are planned from Saturday through Friday. War opponents are scheduled to go to Washington area military recruitment centers Monday to try to shut them down. On Wednesday, "Pentagon Outreach Day," Iraq veterans plan to walk through the Pentagon wearing antiwar T-shirts and talking about the conflict.

9.13.07 Hackwell
Some of the Sept. 12 press conference participants
Across the country, war opponents are being encouraged to visit their congressional representatives' hometown offices and not leave until someone "gives them an explanation about the war," Becker said.

Protesters are to start gathering about 10 a.m. Saturday along the north side of the White House, in Lafayette Square. The official rally will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. Demonstrators will march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, where the die-in is to take place. Police said there will be rolling street closures along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The route will cross the jurisdictions of the U.S. Park Police, D.C. police and Capitol Police, which said they are beefing up patrols in preparation for arrests.

Two counterprotest groups, the Gathering of Eagles, made up of Vietnam veterans, and the D.C. chapter of the conservative group Free Republic, also have permits. They plan to rally at 9:30 a.m. on the Mall at Seventh Street NW and later line Pennsylvania Avenue NW between Seventh and 10th streets.

At a news conference Monday, Gathering of Eagles spokesman Kristinn Taylor said the group's purpose is "to not allow this generation of America's servicemen and women to be betrayed on the battlefield and at home, as happened during and after the Vietnam War."

But at the ANSWER news conference yesterday, Carlos Arredondo, whose son Alex was killed in Iraq in 2004, said, "My passport says 'We the people,' and we the people are responsible for stopping this madness." Arredondo held a folded U.S. flag in one hand and his open passport in the other.

Other speakers included antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan and Adam Kokesh, co-chairman of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The antiwar movement "is far from where Bush would like you to think we are, that we are the fringe. They are the fringe. We are the mainstream," said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation, which encourages Muslim civic participation.

War opponents have carried out acts of civil disobedience since the war began, but Becker said the die-in will be different because it was conceived by and will be led by Iraq war veterans and their families.

New happenings abound as new arrests are made.

Protest organizers estimated a crowd of about 200,000 rallied at the Ellipse, then marched around the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue. Police downgraded the count to about 150,000. The crowd thinned when a misty drizzle began before the afternoon concert on the Washington Monument grounds.
Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington and marched past the White House and on the National Mall.
Photos
Demonstrations in D.C.
Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington and marched past the White House and on the National Mall.
Graphic
A Weekend of Protests
A coalition of antiwar protesters will rally at the Ellipse at 11 a.m. Saturday, and begin marching at 12:30 p.m. Groups also plan protests around the two-day meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, including a rally at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Dupont Circle.
Audio
Post's Dvorak Reports on Protest Scene at the Ellipse
Posted at 2:06 p.m. EST
The Washington Post's Petula Dvorak reports on Saturday's protest at the Ellipse.
* The Transient Hour
* Your Drum
* This ain???t Hell???

D.C. police and U.S. Park Police said there were no significant problems during the demonstrations and reported three arrests -- one for destruction of property, one for attempted theft, and one for disorderly conduct. Police said all three incidents stemmed from the tearing-down of a construction fence and the destruction of a newspaper box in the 1000 block of 11th Street NW. Police said that some windows were broken at 13th Street, just south of L Street.

www.washingtonpost.com...




[edit on 9/16/2007 by janasstar]

WASHINGTON - Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested.
The group marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war. Their numbers stretched for blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue, and they held banners and signs and chanted, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."
Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, of Lawton, Okla., was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.
"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies from the 60s who are against this war."
Counter-protesters lined the sidewalks behind metal barricades. There were some heated shouting matches between the two sides.
Many were arrested without a struggle after they jumped over the waist-high barrier. But some grew angry as police with shields and riot gear attempted to push them back. At least two people were showered with chemical spray. Protesters responded by throwing signs and chanting: "Shame on you."

Related Video
AP
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War of Words: Protestors take on Iraq war
AP
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[edit on 9/16/2007 by janasstar]

Ah... what's the deal with this?

Originally posted by janasstar
D.C. police and U.S. Park Police said there were no significant problems during the demonstrations and reported three arrests

Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested.

Anti-Iraq War Protest - Yahoo News

These are wildly conflicting reports...

reply to post by BitRaiser


all i can say is, i'm glad i didn't submit any money into this. where's the good ole 60's and 70's protesting?

How dare anyone be against the Potus?

That's whats different between the 60's 70's and now. This untouchable idiot in the White House. Times have changed and so has the United States of America. The freedom to express yourself is gone.
We are not the land of the free although Bush continually throws in the word "freedom" in all his speeches. That is one thing i cant stand about his lies, "I am protecting America and its Freedoms"

WTH freedom is he talking about? He's an idiot and his village is looking for him.

Originally posted by dgtempe
How dare anyone be against the Potus?

That's whats different between the 60's 70's and now. This untouchable idiot in the White House. Times have changed and so has the United States of America. The freedom to express yourself is gone.
We are not the land of the free although Bush continually throws in the word "freedom" in all his speeches. That is one thing i cant stand about his lies, "I am protecting America and its Freedoms"

WTH freedom is he talking about? He's an idiot and his village is looking for him.

DG, I think you would have caught most all of the posts to realize I wasn't totally dogging their efforts. I've been on their side all along. I was kinda hoping they would get serious and bodily throw the ole goat out of the WH. I am more than a little upset about the loss of freedoms in our country, since he took office. God only knows what is next.