Ethnic Unrest, the Bane of the Bush Dynasty?
Now...
Anti-War Demonstrations Cause Mayhem
By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - The start of war in Iraq triggered one of the heaviest days of anti-government protesting in years, leading to thousands of arrests across the United States and prompting pro-war counter-demonstrations.
In San Francisco, police wearing helmets and carrying nightsticks arrested more than 1,300 people Thursday as a shifting mass of thousands of anti-war protesters commandeered the streets and paralyzed the evening commute.
Traffic was snarled in cities from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., as anti-war protesters blocked off major intersections, some chaining themselves together. Scores of high school and college students walked out of class. In all, more than 1,800 people were arrested.
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story.news.yahoo.com
And then...
Friday, May 1, 1992
Bush Deplores Mob Brutality, Orders Justice Inquiry
By Jack Nelson
Los Angeles Times
Washington
President Bush, stunned by the Los Angeles racial violence and concerned that it will spread to other cities, Thursday expressed frustration at the acquittals of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney King but denounced the riots as "purely criminal" and called for the re-establishment of law and order.
At the same time, he directed the Department of Justice to step up an investigation to determine whether to prosecute the policemen in federal court for violating King's civil rights.
The president, in telephone calls to Mayor Tom Bradley and California Gov. Pete Wilson, also offered federal aid to help repair the riot damage, though White House officials said that Bradley and Wilson told Bush it was too early to know what assistance would be needed.
Describing the violence, fires and looting in Los Angeles as "mob brutality" and "wanton destruction," Bush said, "We simply cannot condone violence as a way of changing the system." He spoke to a group of broadcasters and later attended a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser for his re-election campaign in Columbus, Ohio, after a trip from Washington that was postponed for several hours because of the developments in Los Angeles.
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