from NY, Cindy Sheehan rally

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S

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:51:12 -0700 (PDT)

[GranniesAgainstGeorge] from NY, Cindy Sheehan rally

 

 

 

Earlier I passed on information that appears not to be

inaccurate. Apparently, Cindy Sheehan was not

arrested at the rally. The story below seems to be

firsthand.

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/19/154239/638

http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2005/09/57261.html

 

Police forcibly break up Cindy Sheehan rally

 

By Pete Dolack

 

The New York City Police Department forcibly broke up

this afternoon's rally for Cindy Sheehan, moving in as

Cindy was speaking at about 3 p.m. in Union Square.

 

Keywords: Government

<http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/government/archive.html>

, War

<http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/warandpeace/archive.html>

& Peace, Local

<http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/local/archive.html> ,

Activism

<http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/activism/archive.html> ,

 

The New York City Police Department forcibly broke up

this afternoon's rally for Cindy Sheehan, moving in as

Cindy was speaking at about 3 p.m. in Union Square.

The rally had been underway for about an hour, and was

about to conclude as Cindy spoke following several

other speakers, including a few who are traveling with

her on her caravan.

 

As Cindy was speaking, a large platoon of police

massed behind from the interior of the park, then

formed a circle behind her, the speakers' area and a

few dozen people who were deployed in an arc behind

her. Overall, about 200 people were in attendance,

with the crowd steadily increasing in size as the

rally progressed. As the police formed their arc just

behind, the men and women immediately behind Cindy

linked arms.

 

A captain made a cutting motion at his throat,

signalling he wanted no more free speech. He waited

about 30 seconds, then the police moved in. They

didn't dare arrest Cindy, but they immediately moved

in and grabbed zool, the event's organizer and one of

the main organizers of Camp Casey-NYC, pulling him

away and arresting him. I do not believe anyone

else was arrested; at least I didn't see any other

arrests. I was nearby, and there was no hesitation on

the part of the police in specifically targetting

zool.

 

The police also took the microphone and sound system.

The crowd shouted " Shame! Shame! " at the police and

asked what they were so afrraid of, but made no

response. There was a moderate press presence, even a

bit of corporate media there, although the only

television crew covering the rally was RTV from

Russia.

 

No warning of any kind was given, and this was a

permitted rally. Other than the captain making his cut

motion, 30 seconds before forcibly breaking up the

rally, there was no warning, verbal or in any other

fashion. The police had massed perhaps three or four

minutes before moving in. Until then, the rally had

gone smoothly, starting just after 2 p.m. as

scheduled. Cindy and the rest of the caravan arrived

sometime after 2:30; the rest of the rally was

comprised of speakers from the caravan. Many groups

were in attendence besides Camp Casey-NYC,

including Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star

Families for Peace, the Troops Out Now Coalition, the

No Police State Coalition and the Green Party, among

others.

 

As several people confronted the police in the minutes

following the arrest of zool and the stealing of the

sound equipment, a woman from the caravan said they

had done more than 100 events in 51 cities, and

nothing like this had ever happened to them. There is

no free speech in Crawford, Texas -- Camp Casey has

been under attack there -- and there is no free speech

in New York City. The police have attacked Camp

Casey-NYC on at least two previous Mondays, have taken

the camps's tents, confiscated banners and made

arrests. This is merely the latest example of

Bloomberg's contempt for opinions that challenge the

authorities, particularly Republican Party

authorities. And where are our supposed policital

leaders? Nothing but silence.

 

Free zool now!

Defend free speech in New York City!

 

 

<http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=249>

 

" Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They

never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people,

and neither do we. "

 

George Bush, at the signing ceremony for a 417 billion dollar

" defense " bill.

 

 

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http://www.GranniesAgainstGeorge.us