Posted on 03/19/2004 7:52:46 PM PST by Indy Pendance
SAN FRANCISCO - (KRT) - Anti-war protesters converged on downtown streets Friday to mark the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, making noise without creating the chaos of a year ago.
Last year, thousands of people nearly shut down the city, blocking freeway entrances and major streets and resulting in 2,300 arrests over three days of angry demonstrations. Protesters were not out in such force Friday.
A total of 19 arrests were made, said Dewayne Tully, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.
Six people were arrested for obstructing an entrance and trespassing at Bechtel headquarters. Later, police arrested 11 people at a building on Page Street after they failed to disperse while trying to take over the unoccupied dwelling, Tully said.
Two people were arrested after a confrontation with several police officers at 12th and Market streets. Tully said the two protesters got into a struggle with officers, physically attacking them and attempting to take one's baton. They were booked on suspicion of assault.
Earlier at Bechtel headquarters, the atmosphere was more festive. Women practiced yoga in street, a portable sound system blasted music and a dozen demonstrators created a human chain.
Police closed down Beale Street between Market and Mission streets for nearly two hours, as protesters yelled "Health Care Not Warfare" and "Bush Lies, People Die," and a colorful make-shift marching band with a drum major played on trumpets and whaled on drums.
Some continued up Market Street to Page Street where another group took up the cause of a group of squatters who had taken over a building the night before.
Protesters began assembling at 7 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza then walked to the Bechtel headquarters on 50 Beale St. Police presence was strong, as hundreds of officers in riot gear blocked a large crowd that formed in the middle of the street from spilling onto Market.
Later in the day, as the crowd dwindled, police forced those who remained onto the sidewalks to accommodate traffic.
Today, organizers of another demonstration expect tens of thousands of people at Dolores Park for a march to the Civic Center for an anti-war rally.
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