Hundreds of Thousands March Against Bush in NY

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews & storyID=6097434

 

Hundreds of Thousands March Against Bush in NY

Sun Aug 29, 2004 07:00 PM ET

 

By Grant McCool

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of

demonstrators toting colorful banners and shouting " no

more Bush " took to the streets of New York on Sunday,

the day before the Republican convention was to open,

to decry the U.S.-led war in Iraq and President Bush's

policies.

 

Organizers for United for Peace and Justice coalition

estimated 400,000 people marched for more than five

hours in summer heat and humidity. Police declined to

estimate the size of the crowd, but it stretched out

more than a mile along two main avenues in central

Manhattan.

 

" I am just burning with anger about what our country

is doing, " said protester Cornelius Boss, an ex-Marine

from Columbus, Ohio, about Bush's foreign policy.

 

Police said there were more than 200 arrests during

the day, most unrelated to the march, but there was at

least one clash between self-styled anarchists and

police along the route. Three police officers were

injured.

 

About 500 people have been arrested since anti-Bush

protests began on Thursday when AIDS activists stood

naked in front of Madison Square Garden.

 

Within an hour of the march ending, police arrested as

many as 60 protesters who went to Times Square

theaters to encounter Republican delegates. Thousands

also gathered in Central Park in defiance of a city

ban on a rally there, including a comic troupe of

clown-faced soldiers in military green jumpsuits.

 

Hundreds of people lay on the grass in the park and

formed a massive human peace sign.

 

Among the demonstrators in Times Square were " Queer

Fist, " a group of young gays and lesbians who took

part in a " kiss-in " on the sidewalks of the theater

district. Police moved in and arrested them and put

them in handcuffs outside a hotel.

 

In the march, people of all ages and demonstrating on

a wide array of issues from the war, to health care,

the environment and the economy, chanted, " Hey Ho, Hey

Ho, Bush Has Got to Go. "

 

CARNIVAL ATMOSPHERE

 

The peaceful crowd walked in a carnival atmosphere,

banging drums and waving banners past the Madison

Square Garden convention site. Republicans and other

visitors arrived in the city for a four-day event

where Bush will be nominated for another four-year

term. He faces Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry of

Massachusetts in the Nov. 2 election. Continued ...

 

© Reuters 2004. .