WAR PROTESTERS CLASH WITH COPS
Guy Taylor
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Eleven protesters were arrested yesterday and at least two were injured in
scuffles with police as some 4,500 people marched down Pennsylvania Avenue
— all calling on the United States not to make war on terrorist leaders
whose Sept. 11
attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center killed more than 6,000 people.
Many of the demonstrators were those who had planned to be in town yesterday
to protest the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund meetings. When
the World Bank meetings were canceled because of the attacks, organizersswitched
gears and turned their protest into an anti-war march.
Before the terrorist attacks, police had trained and prepared for 100,000
anti-World Bank and IMF protesters. Instead, they were faced by a much smaller
crowd, which
gathered at Freedom Plaza, at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Still,
there were groups among the demonstrators who strayed from the strict route
spelled out in the permit issued to leaders of the march last week.
At 9 a.m., about 900 protesters, led by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence,
a Washington-based anarchist group, were met by police in full riot gearas
they assembled outside Union Station. This group, which did not have protest
permits, repeatedly tried to break police lines as it marched from UnionStation
to the World Bank headquarters at 18th and H streets NW.
A clash broke out when about 200 of the protesters — many equippedwith
gas masks and balaclava coverings — tried to surround and halta squad
car near the MCI Center.
Several police officers and demonstrators suffered minor injuries. One of
those injured was Assistant Police Chief Terrence W. Gainer. "I took a clunk
on the head and caught some pepper spray," said Chief Gainer, who had been
walking in front of the squad car.
It took police less than an hour to encircle the group, once it reached the
World Bank, but more clashes ensued — one lasting 15 minutes and ending
in the arrest of several protesters at the corner of 15th and H streets NW
— when police herded the crowd in the direction of Freedom Plaza, where
several thousand other protesters were waiting to begin their duly licensed
anti-war march from the plaza to the U.S. Capitol.
"Overall, this has been a very responsive group," Chief Gainer said yesterday
afternoon. "We've had good dialogue with the demonstrators."
"My first assignment as a police officer was the '68 Democratic Convention
in Chicago, where there was a big clash," Mr. Gainer said. "Today has been
much better. There have been a few rough moments, but whenever you have a
clash
of ideas, there's going to be a bit of give and take."
Despite the day's smooth runnings, Mr. Gainer said he would "rather havehad
to deal with 50,000 protesting against the World Bank than what happenedto
the Pentagon and World Trade Center."
Some from the anarchist group were surprised the police acted so firmly when
the group broke through police lines. "There were so many signals we have
given the police over the last few days that this would be peaceful, whyare
they surrounding us?" said Adam Eidinger, a 28-year-old carrying a signthat
read 'Violence Does Not Solve Violence, Why Value One Over The Other.'
As Mr. Eidinger's group merged with those at Freedom Plaza, who were organized
by a new coalition called International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism,
his sign was lost in a sea of other signs showing how many different groups
had
come to protest.
"War Kills Children," read one. "Do More Innocent People Have To Die?" read
another.
The two groups began making their way toward the Capitol lawn shortly after
3 p.m. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey estimated 4,500 demonstratorsmarched
down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ingrid Zemer, 21, of Fort Collins, Colo., was among them. She had driven1,680
miles from her hometown to the District with some friends.
"I can remember when I was in high school seeing footage of Vietnam protesters
and thinking, 'I hope if the day ever comes, I'll have the strength to stand
up for what I believe in,' and now is that day," she said. "... I feel
like I have a moral responsibility to be here."
Police lining Pennsylvania Avenue were equipped with see-through shields,
protective vests, helmets and batons to protect them against acts of violence
not covered in training manuals — breaking up fights among warringfactions
of demonstrators.
Police had to be "prepared for anything," Chief Gainer said, including clashes
between the protesters and those who believe in President Bush's declared
war on terrorism.
The two groups — protesters and counterprotesters who supported military
action — had jostled one another in the morning on the periphery of
Freedom Plaza, before the march began. A few scuffles and shouting matches
had broken out.
Not much happened, however, when the two met up along the line of march,by
the U.S. Navy Memorial at Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
One counterprotester, standing with others on the sidewalk, held up a sign
that read, "Welcome traitors, seek therapy." Another pointed to individuals
in the march yelling, "Hey you, swim to Cuba."
Anti-war activists used a bull horn to shout at the counterprotesters. "George
Bush, we want peace. U.S. out of the Middle East," they chanted.