Flags Pulled from Berkeley Fire Trucks
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001
BERKELEY, Calif. – Citing past experiences with unruly protesters, Berkeley Fire Department officials ordered the removal of American flags from fire engines in advance of an anticipated series of anti-war rallies at the University of California.
Large red, white and blue American flags were mounted on the city's trucks and engines in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, but concerns that the banners would draw troublemakers during the planned march prompted city hall to order their removal.
"Based on past experience, these flags may be inflammatory to people and provoke them to take the flag or whatever else," Berkeley Assistant Fire Chief David Orth told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I don't want a firefighter defending a flag in lieu of fighting a fire or rescuing somebody."
The Berkeley campus was one of most tumultuous during the Vietnam War, and more recent protests have frequently degenerated into vandalism and agitated clashes with police.
"I think it was wise for the Fire Department to take them down," said Ronald Cruz, an organizer of the march. "Some people are upset how the mass grief of the nation has been manipulated into support of war."
A peaceful march Thursday drew several hundred protesters, and additional rallies were anticipated in the coming weeks and days.
The Chronicle said that while the decision on the removal of the flags sorely pained Mayor Shirley Dean and considerably irked many of the city's 124 firefighters, most saw it as par for the course for Berkeley's politics.
"It's no big deal," an anonymous firefighter told the newspaper. "Knowing the history of Berkeley and the city itself, we don't want to be targets, otherwise we won't be able to help anyone |
