Michael returns from The United for Peace and Justice and ANSWER Rally in Washington D.C. (Sept 24-26th) to give us a report on what really happened and what didn't get covered by the mainstream media.
Report: I arrived in Washington D.C. on Tuesday September 20th to prepare to cover what would be the largest Ant-War Rally in Washington D.C. Since the Vietnam War. Not suprisingly the corporate owned mainstream media provided almost no meaningful coverage of the three days of protests and anti-war events and chose to parrot official police estimates of small crowds when in fact the crowd swelled to approximately 250,000 -300,00 at the height of the protest on Saturday Sept 26th. The streets were so filled with protestors that it took more than two hours for the marchers in the rear to start moving along the route that would take them by the White House. The crowd was lively but peaceful with only a handful of arrests reported which is pretty amazing for a crowd that size.
I spoke with many participants who indicated that this was their first protest experience and what compelled them into action were the failed policies of the Bush Regime in Iraq and the recent callous incomptetency and criminal neglect and mishandling of Hurricane Katrina and of the poor in New Orleans.
On Monday Sept 26th 11:00 a.m. EST, 400 dedicated activists, from various groups, surrounded the White House and sent representatives to the Secret Service Checkpoint to ask to speak with the President. Upon being rejected they moved forward in waves in an act of civil disobedience to attach the names of dead soldiers and civilians killed in the Iraq War on the gate of the White House. Others protested the ban on sitting in the "post card zone"( a nine foot area in front the gate where no one is allowed to sit and must remain in motion at all times) by sitting on ths sidewalk or kneeling down to pray for peace. Members of the Not In Our Name Project succesfully chained a large Eviction Notice to the White House Gate demanding that Bush vacate the White House immediately.
One protestor climbed over the White House fence but was quickly dragged off and out of sight by White House Security Agents as a chant of "a liar a coward say it a little louder" rose up from the visibly agitated crowd and filled the air. Mounted Polcie moved in as a security fence was erected to separate the crowd and Police buses were postioned to block the view of the fate arrestees. Among those arested were Professor and noted author Cornel West, Medea Benjamin from Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan and numerous soldiers from Vets for Peace in full uniform. The days action adhered to it's non-violent principles with no injured parties reported except maybe the Consitution and Bill of Rights.
The arrests started around 1:00 p.m. and ended around 5:00 p.m. as over 400 hundred people were taken into custody and transported to the White House Park Police detention facility in Anacostia ( a remote region in South East D.C. where the rich and powerful warehouse the mostly poor African American population). Detainees were charged with disorderly conduct and kept on buses handcuffed for over eight hours. This was a test case to see if D.C. Police force and other law enforcement agencies would adhere to new regulations imposed them as result of lawsuits regarding mistreament of arrestees in their care.
Friday, October 07, 2005
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