Anti-war rally sparks arrests

by SthPacific | September 16, 2007 at 06:36 am | 399 views | 4 comments

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Washington against the Iraq War, and at least 160 people were arrested when they jumped over a barricade.

Many of the protesters were arrested without a struggle after they jumped over the waist-high barricade.

But some grew angry as police attempted to push them back using large shields.

Protesters sprayed

At least two people were showered with chemical spray and protesters responded by throwing signs and chanting "shame on you".

The arrests came after protesters initially decided to lay down on the Capitol lawn with signs on top of their bodies to represent soldiers killed in Iraq.

When police took no action, some of the protesters decided to start climbing over the barricade.

Before arriving at the Capitol lawn, the demonstrators marched holding banners and signs and saying, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now".

Protesters lined the footpaths behind metal barricades.

More arrests than previously

The number of arrests by Capitol Police was much higher than at 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.

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 George W Bush's impeachment.

Veterans demonstrate

Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.

"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Mr Cliburn says 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," he says.

About 13 blocks away, nearly 1,000 protesters gathered near the Washington Monument, frequently erupting in chants of "USA" and waving American flags.

SOURCE: AP

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ryan

at 15:53 on September 16th, 2007

needs improvement:

SthPacific, I think your story has potential but needs some improvement. I've got a few suggestions, and if you give them a try, I'd be happy to remove this flag. You seem to have lifted an entire AP article, that is a violation of the fair use doctrine and you did not use highlight.

SthPacific

at 17:23 on September 16th, 2007

You have not fixed the highlight button. If you ever set it up to work with my browser I might use it. And where did I lift this from Ryan?? Your editing skills need work.

ryan

at 17:29 on September 16th, 2007

that's exactly the point of the highlight tool. to set apart what you are saying and what you have sourced. can you please explain the technical problem you are having in more detail in a private message so we can work it out.

your article is virtually word for word the same as this AP article.

And even if you are having technical problems with the highlight tool you make no effort to distinguish what are your words with italics or bold.

SthPacific

at 18:18 on September 16th, 2007

Oh so its gone from seems to be lifted to virtually , come on Ryan, your pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, if it,s not from AP how can I highlight it anyway.

Ill email the dev's about the problem. I have brought it up with you before.