Posted on 07/25/2004 4:17:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BOSTON - Delegates arriving for the Democratic National Convention were greeted Sunday by competing protests against the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and abortion.
About 2,000 protesters gathered at noon on the historic Boston Common, site of many of the city's most memorable demonstrations. After about two hours there, they marched half a mile to the FleetCenter, where Democrats plan to nominate hometown candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) for president on Wednesday.
"This is just the beginning of a week of protests," said Larry Holmes, spokesman for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a coalition of activist groups that staged the march.
Several blocks away, about 1,000 anti-abortion advocates gathered at Faneuil Hall, the historic meeting house where patriots gathered before the American Revolution, and set off on their own march to the FleetCenter.
The two groups crossed paths at an intersection and exchanged angry words. A brief scuffle broke out between some of the peace demonstrators and a man carrying a graphic anti-abortion sign. The man was pushed to the ground and his shirt was torn but he appeared unhurt.
Some of the anti-abortion marchers lay in the street but soon stood up at the request of the police, and the two marches continued their separate ways following a few minutes of confusion.
Two people were taken into custody but police said the Secret Service did not release their names immediately. A woman was arrested near Faneuil Hall on disorderly conduct charges, the Secret Service said. An anti-war protester was taken into custody near City Hall for questioning but was not arrested, according to police and the Secret Service.
About 30 state police officers wearing riot gear lined Beacon Street for the larger march, where the throng paraded behind a banner reading "Bring the troops home now."
A half-dozen cruisers and 18 police vans followed slowly along the route. Representatives of the National Lawyers Guild and other civil libertarians also accompanied the march, wearing hats reading "legal observer."
The diverse crowd ranged from teenagers to war veterans. They carried flags, banners and signs reading, "Health care, not warfare," and "Veterans for Peace."
Gloria Pacis, a graphic artist from New York City, told the audience on the Common that her son, Stephen Funk, 22, refused to serve with the military in Iraq and spent five months in a military prison for it.
"We have come here so that those trying to bring our votes come November can take a good look in our eyes and know that we won't be lied to again," Pacis said.
Some protesters criticized the Bush administration and the decision to go to war in Iraq.
"How dare we go into another country and tell them how to run it, how to make it better when we cannot even better our own government," said Christina Densmore, 31, of Springfield, Mass. "Our own people are dying."
___
Associated Press writer Ken Maguire in Boston contributed to this report.
Sounds plenty peaceful to me. <|:/~
Bump
Underplaying the violence of the "peace demonstrators".
Indeed. The bloodshed, torture, and misery endemic in the the United States is the real tragedy. The mass graves, the military dictatorship, the feared "knock in the night". We must stop these things at home before we venture to tell other countries how to do so.
Okay. Done. Let's go abroad now.
As we don't hava a draft, I assume this means he was in the service and refused to obey a direct order. She should be glad he got only five months' punishment.
Between some (as in more than one) of the peace demonstrators and a (as in just one) man from the "other side". Wow! These peace demonstrators are mighty tough...when they run in packs.
Do you think crackpots get more news coverage than in the past or do you think there are simply more crackpots?
Just saw this on Fox. If someone has the photos they are pretty funny. This could take the spotlight off you know who.
I'm really surprised AP reported this correctly. Usually it is somehow the pro-life demonstrators who get the blame for violence in some convoluted way.
Irony of Ironies. A "graphic" anti-abortion picture. It probably showed a butchered baby, and was therefore "graphic." Sheesh. I guess they couldn't handle the truth.
Wonderful demonstration of peace...They need a new angle.
OK, "peace-activist"...remind me again just WHERE you were protesting when IMPOTUS-X42 was bombing the SERBS? Where are your cries of "bring them home" for the troops that are stationed in Kosevo?
And can I ship your A$$ to Baghdad so you can see FIRST HAND how people who have had the yoke of tyranny removed from their necks feel about your socialist worldview?
I love it! Maybe this will turn into another Chicago '68 DNC convention.
Riots, looting, destruction, just what the RNC needs to ask the simple question; Kerry/Edwards in a Democrat controlled city in a Democrat controlled State, they want to control the security of the Nation and they can't control the security of one city that's on their home party turf.
Ahhh the Rat convention and outsiders.
1968 seem like yesterday when outside on the hard asphalt Bill Clinton seduced Eleanor Clift..... she's loved him for that audacious act eversince. The gravel prints on her bare butt were medals of the wonderful skirmish.
ANSWER ? New strain of protestors ?
"A brief scuffle broke out between some of the peace demonstrators and a man carrying a graphic anti-abortion sign."
The anti-war guy doesn't want innocent Iraqi children being killed - it's only okay if its innocent American kids being killed.
I live nearby, I should head over there with my video cam and a few Bush pins on my shoulder strap.... Just to recford any moments of police brutality, of course...
Oh good gosh, where was the freaking BARF ALERT on this one? Where the heck shall I begin? Not surprisingly, other FReepers have pretty much covered my gripes, so I'll just leave you with this one:
"Gloria Pacis, a graphic artist from New York City, told the audience on the Common that her son, Stephen Funk, 22, refused to serve with the military in Iraq and spent five months in a military prison for it."
(Sorry, I don't know how to italicize a quote.) What's this? Ms. Pacis's son REFUSED to serve in Iraq? Perhaps Mr. Funk should consider a new line of work. Who exactly did he and Mommy THINK would be serving in Iraq, representatives of the American Dental Association? I have military members in my family and I live in a town adjacent to Fort Hood, Texas; these people may not be delighted to head off to war, but they suck it up and do it because IT'S THEIR JOB!! They certainly knew when they enlisted that service might actually be required (imagine that!). Picture for just a moment a kid hoping to make the high school football team. He attends all of the two-a-day practices in the blistering heat of August. He learns every last move in the coach's play book. He makes the team and is ready for the season opener. Does he balk when the coach actually expects him to get in the game? Does his Mommy intercede on his behalf from the stands? That mean ol' coach isn't asking him to do anything unusual. The kid has been trained for this. Put him in the game and let's see what can do! Why would he join the team if he's not willing to play?
Apparently Ma Pacis has raised a duty-shirking pansy. I'll bet she still takes his temperature rectally, too.
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