Posted on 09/16/2007 1:22:42 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
WASHINGTON - Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested.
The group marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war. Their numbers stretched for blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue, and they held banners and signs and chanted, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."
Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, of Lawton, Okla., was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.
"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies from the 60s who are against this war."
Counterprotesters lined the sidewalks behind metal barricades. There were some heated shouting matches between the two sides.
The arrests came after protesters lay down on the Capitol lawn in what they called a "die in" with signs on top of their bodies to represent soldiers killed in Iraq. When police took no action, some of the protesters started climbing over a barricade at the foot of the Capitol steps.
Many were arrested without a struggle after they jumped over the waist-high barrier. But some grew angry as police with shields and riot gear attempted to push them back. At least two people were showered with chemical spray. Protesters responded by throwing signs and chanting: "Shame on you."
The number of arrests by Capitol Police on Saturday was much higher than previous anti-war rallies in Washington this year. Five people were arrested at a protest outside the Pentagon in March when they walked onto a bridge that had been closed off to accommodate the demonstration, then refused to leave. And at a rally in January, about 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol, but they were dispersed without arrests.
The protesters gathered earlier Saturday near the White House in Lafayette Park with signs saying "End the war now" and calling for President Bush's impeachment. The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition and other groups.
Organizers estimated that nearly 100,000 people attended the rally and march. That number could not be confirmed; police did not give their own estimate. A permit for the march obtained in advance by the ANSWER Coalition had projected 10,000.
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan told the crowd is was time to be assertive.
"It's time to lay our bodies on the line and say we've had enough," she said. "It's time to shut this city down."
About 13 blocks away, nearly 1,000 counterprotesters gathered near the Washington Monument, frequently erupting in chants of "U-S-A" and waving American flags.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, speaking from a stage to crowds clad in camouflage, American flag bandanas and Harley Davidson jackets, said he wanted to send three messages.
"Congress, quit playing games with our troops. Terrorists, we will find you and kill you," he said. "And to our troops, we're here for you, and we support you."
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Sheehan’s act is getting so tired and old. What a bore that woman is.
“It’s time to lay our bodies on the line and say we’ve had enough,” she said. “It’s time to shut this city down.”
That sounds like what the Terrorists want to do. Except the Terrorists want to mass murder us in the process, while on the other hand Sheehan will ultimately enable them to do so. What’s the difference? Dead is dead.
Typical of them.
So General Cindy has her own army and is screeching orders? Or is it Captain Ironic?
More like Private Stupid.
Somebody should have thrown a net over the whole bunch.
Thought: Republican convention, the Police in Minneapolis could use some training like this opportunity would offer.
I really wanna knock the crap out of the people holding that sign.
The people that worry me the most are the ones that don't know. And, they don't know that they don't know.
I hope that's clear.
The poles for the sign would be a way to save wear and tear on the hands.
"It's time to shut this city down."
I kind of agree with Cindy. I'd like to see Washington shut down for 10 months every year.
As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know. Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Publicity hounds
LOLOL! This was tried in the '70s as the smelly elite tried to shut D.C. down on May Day.
You know, the way the article is written, at first I thought that was what the protesters were saying. I was puzzled because it doesn’t fit their message.
The thing that struck me about the scumbags in their march was how marginal the vast majority of them were. I would sa not more than 15% of them looked like actual people who lived next door and just had a difference of opinion.
The worst pukes I saw were guys who were dressed to show they were veterans. They should know better but as they say in the marine corps, “There’s always that 10%.”
The sadest sight was a Roman Catholic priest who had no answer for me when I pointed out that he was marching with a group selfidentyfing as PLO scummers.
They started an hour and forty five mins. late and made no impression except on themselves.
Rummy rules
Based on observable history I would guess that the commies had less than the Americans and no where near 100,000.
I remember back in the '90s when a San Francisco talk show host (I think it was Michael Savage when he was still at KSFO) had a protest rally and got 5000 people. It wasn't even reported, but there was radio and TV coverage of a little group of under 10 a couple blocks away who were protesting the way poor President Scumbag was being treated.
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