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Edited on Tue Aug-31-04 12:24 AM by NYC
of handicapped people, but there were a few. (There usually are.)
Re getting out of jail, the National Lawyers Guild is doing their best, but there were reports of people being held way too long before being processed. Also, lawyers were having delays getting to their clients in custody.
You may have heard that as of Friday(?) the police had started arresting the legal observers as well. There was to be a press conference on the courthouse steps at 10 a.m. today. I didn't attend, and I didn't hear reports about it. The NLG is doing their best to keep up. When there is an arrest, they run to the location, and collect as much information as they can.
The march that started in Dag Hammarskjold was officially called "March for Our Lives: Stop the War at Home". Like all protests, several groups were represented.
If you are interested in the poverty aspect of it, I would say that there were more poverty groups and signs in the earlier march. (For instance "Community Voices Heard". Both marches had several health care signs and affordable housing signs.)
The Dag Hammarskjold march was a rally permit only. No permit to march. After much discussion, it was agreed that we would walk downtown on Second Avenue to 23rd St. (quite far below MSG), turn right to walk west to Eighth Avenue, then uptown to 30th St., the closest anyone is allowed to get to the Garden.
When we were on Eighth Avenue, many of us had entered the block between 29th and 30th St. For no reason we could discern, the police barricaded the rest of the people before the 29th St. intersection. The block I was on was more than half empty when they barricaded the others.
The only reason we could figure was that they wanted to photograph the people in the block closest to MSG, and show that it was a small turnout.
Much chanting of "let them through", then a "higher up" police officer (white shirt) came, and said, "Remove the barricades." When the barricades were removed, the protestors started through the intersection (no traffic anywhere around there -- all prevented), police on mopeds came and actually ran into protestors. Peter had his leg scraped, another man had his foot run over, and Peter said that a couple people had been injured. One of the moped cops fell off the moped after hitting someone, and the wheels were spinning, and the rubber was burning. That moped cop went to the hospital. I don't know about the injured protestors.
The protestors did NOT move forward into our block. Then, riot police entered our block. I don't know why. We were also penned into our block, and could not get out. They came way forward, then I don't know why, but retreated, many protestors following them. Then, one of the women who had been in the barricade moped scuffle, but had been on our side of it, (and had been asking a woman moped cop WHY?) suggested we all get out our scarves, etc. because the riot cops leaving our block had felt "rushed". Nothing came of that. (The moped cops were plain clothes, by the way.)
I protested for 8 hours today in the heat and humidity, so when it seemed that the people barricaded behind would never be allowed forward, I left. I think all the activity was over.
There was only one way out, to the far side of Ninth Avenue by way of 30th St.
Along 23rd St., someone had been arrested, probably between Lexington and Park, and I believe there were 2 more arrests farther west on 23rd St. when the paddy wagon came rushing up again, but I didn't see what happened. It is very likely some people got arrested in the moped barricade scuffle, but I couldn't see through all the people.
I would say that only about 500 to 700 of us had made it to the forward-most block. The others were barricaded behind.
All along the march, people were hanging out their windows waving to us or displaying their anti-Bush signs. At the Chelsea Hotel, on an upper floor, two side by side windows had bedsheets "bouncing" to the rhythm of the protest drums. Much support from the people we passed.
Edit: Approximately 5,000 people at Dag Hammarskjold.
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