400,000 person protest a grand success in NYC
* The people are being heard. This is democracy.
"Estimates of how many participated in the protest march neared 400,000 people, with the procession stretching for miles. But little of the predicted violence and unrest materialized. About 200 people were arrested, some for blocking roadways, others for assaulting police. The marchers followed a plan set by New York officials, snaking along a horseshoe-shaped route through New York's cordoned-off streets, then peacefully dispersing at the end.
Anger at Bush pervaded the gathering. Some signs read ''Bush lied, thousands died" and ''Bush: Empty Warhead." Protesters defaced photos of Bush and poked fun at his family and upbringing. ''No more years," many chanted.
Meanwhile, in hotels and ballrooms across the city, Bush's supporters prepared for their weeklong political celebration of his four years in the White House.
The gathering was expected to be the largest protest during the four-day convention. ''It was the largest demonstration since the war began; we feel like we succeeded in combating the rhetoric the Republicans will be issuing from the convention," said Bob Wing, national cochairman of United for Peace and Justice, which organized the protest.
The assemblage, marching in the sweltering August heat, took nearly five hours to file past Madison Square Garden, the convention site in midtown Manhattan. New York police, in keeping with recent policy, refused to offer a crowd estimate. Protest organizers boasted 400,000 people, and several police officers on the scene said there seemed to be more than the predicted 250,000." |
