Rubber Bullets Used Against Oakland War Protesters
Mon April 7, 2003 12:39 PM ET
OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Police fired rubber bullets on Monday against hundreds of anti-war protesters blocking a road near Oakland's port, witnesses and officials said.
Local media reported several longshoremen were injured in what is believed to be the first police use of rubber bullets against demonstrators since President Bush launched a war aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on March 19.
Demonstrators were seeking to block access to American President Lines, a shipping company they claimed was profiting from the war in Iraq. Police at the scene said they used two types of rubber bullets to disperse about 750 protesters and that some arrests were made.
Oakland Police spokeswoman Danielle Ashford said police used "sting balls," also known as rubber pellets, and bean-bags to disperse the crowd. "We gave our dispersal order, we gave them an order, we gave them ample time to disperse," she said.
A group of about 150 protesters remained after the initial burst of rubber bullets dispersed the crowd and police continued to fire upon them, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
In San Francisco police arrested about 18 protesters at the Federal building in a separate demonstration.
Anti-war activists in the San Francisco area said they were launching a series of protest actions on Monday after a period of relative quiet in a city famous for its history of dissent. Police arrested more than 2,000 people in San Francisco in the first two days of the war.
In New York, several dozen people were arrested in an anti-war protest that blocked the entrance to the Manhattan building of the Carlyle Group, which has a significant stake in the defense industry.
Up to 300 people chanted "Carlyle gets fat on war" outside the offices of the $14 billion investment group.
Police said about two or three dozen demonstrators were arrested outside the building on 5th Avenue at 56th Street and charged with disorderly conduct.
The self-described "M27 Coalition" of protesters said the demonstration was part of a "day of direct action" against the U.S.-and British-led war in Iraq. The same group organized a "die in" March 27 that snarled traffic in the center of Manhattan during morning rush-hour and led to more than 200 arrests.
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