Current Situation in Peace Park

Fall/Winter 1997

Hi! Thought you'd like to know the current situation in Lafayette "Peace" Park. This section is updated frequently, so please check back soon for new info.

Unfortunately, Thomas is once again in Court, this time as a plaintiff, and with lawyers representing his interests. He had been physically attacked on Easter Eve '96, and arrested, by a Secret Service agent for reciting the First Amendment when the officer told him to shut up. The prosecutors refused to prosecute. In another bit of police misconduct, on election eve '96 Thomas was arrested by a Park Police officer who was quite irrational; at trial in April, 1997, the officer's testimony was so unbelievable that the lineup of witnesses for Thomas never got a chance to speak, as the judge approved defense's Motion to Dismiss. Since then the police have behaved fairly decorously toward the vigilers. However, police still misinform homeless people and new, lone demonstrators and violate their rights.

Pennsylvania Avenue is still closed to traffic. However, Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's Delegate in the House of Representatives and sponsor of Proposition One in Congress, has asked for the reopening of the "Grand Old Avenue" as a means to alleviate the traffic congestion in that area.

After two years of research on the impacts of closing Pennsylvania Avenue to the District, the report was published June 4, 1997. The final consensus was that the closing cost the D. C. government over $1 million, so far, and has dramatically increased pollution. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has asked the 105th Congress to vote for the reopening.

The 16th Anniversary Picnic in the park on June 1 was rained on, but a number of good friends showed up to help us commemorate. Hope you'll put the Sunday closest to June 3rd on your calendar in '98 as "Peace Park Day" and be sure to come with friends and families.

On October 12, 1997, Native American Day, in solidarity with the Shundahai network at the Nevada Test Site and the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice at Cape Canaveral, we co-sponsored a musical rally with LoveEarth (from New York) to stop the launch of 72.3 lbs. of plutonium into space (the Saturn probe, known as "Cassini"). It was a powerful (though small) event. It was good to hear drums in the park again. Although Cassini was launched, the work has just begun, since NASA plans about a dozen more such launches in the next dozen or so years, and since Cassini itself will swing back past Earth in 1999. You can check our website for updates as we continue to work to stop any future launches of radioactive materials into space. It's just too dangerous.

When Jiang visited from China fall '97, the park was crowded with people from every color of the political rainbow, concerned about abortion, human rights, nuclear power plants / nuclear waste, and global nuclear disarmament. It reminded vigilers of Gorbachev's second visit to D.C. in the Reagan years (he had lost the glow of the first visit, but still attracted a lot of attention).

We have been talking with many Chinese people recently, who are pouring out from behind their Iron Curtain to find out the truth of Western society much as the Russian tourists did in the 1980's. This seems a hopeful sign. Perhaps if the leaders meet,, the people will soon do the same. This might be a solution in Iraq. Tell us what you think.

We've painted a new sign which replaces "Trust God and Disarm Everywhere," which both attracted and repelled people for a number of years. The new, colorful message ("Convert the War Machines") seems to capture people's imaginations and inspires fewer arguments. We still find ourselves preached at by fundamentalists who are sure that our concept of reality (i.e., we can make a difference) is flawed because the Bible supposedly tells us that we've got to blow ourselves up. We reason with them with Jesus' own words, and occasionally it works.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list, just drop us a cyber-line or post card. Better yet, drop by Lafayette Park across from the White House and visit us in person. The vigil is always there, you'll find us on the edge of 1601 Pennsylvania Avenue.

et and DC crew

Peace Park and the Presidents
Peace Park and the Regulations
Pennsylvania Avenue Closure
Rats in Lafayette Park
Troublemakers
People
Lafayette Park Closures

Peace Park in Court
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- Index of cases
"Peace Park" the play

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