Antiwar, Pro-Troop Protests Rally in D.C.
By Christina Pino-Marina
washingtonpost.com Staff Write
Saturday, April 12, 2003; 6:03 PM
Antiwar activists and counterdemonstrators held separate rallies in downtown Washington today, prompting police to close several streets to allow for permitted protest activities.
Anti-war activists marched along Pennsylvania Ave. in downtown Washington as D.C. police officers lined up along the march route, keeping an eye on the crowd.
At the front of march, protesters displayed a large yellow and black banner with the words, "Impeach Bush!" as marchers chanted "No blood for oil, U.S. off Iraqi soil."
D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey said the demonstration has been peaceful for the most part but there was a skirmish involving officers and protesters dressed in black near 9th and G streets NW after a protester tried to push an officer off his bicycle. A few officers had pepper spray canisters at the ready while others used their nightsticks to push the demonstrators back onto the streets. Ramsey said no arrests were made, but he did say one protester suffered a minor leg injury.
Earlier, protesters gathered in Freedom Plaza, 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW chanting slogans, beating drums and raising their fists in the air. Many were determined to continue their campaign to denounce the conflict after the U.S.-led military campaign ousted Saddam Hussein's regime from power earlier this week.
Former Navy Recruiter Esther Pastor, 48, traveled to Washington from Virginia Beach to support the rally said: "(There are ) a lot of us who don't believe that this war should have started, who don't believe that it should continue, and who do not believe that it represents the true American Spirit."
The antiwar activities were organized by International ANSWER, which is the same coalition that organized demonstrations in Washington in January and March. ANSWER spokesman Brian Becker told The Washington Post that tens of thousands would come to the nation’s capital but that the protest would likely be smaller than a March 15 march that organizers estimated at 100,000 and police estimated at 40,000. Antiwar organizers requested a permit for 10,000 demonstrators for today's events.
The street closures began Friday morning and continued overnight. Police closed the following streets in Northwest Washington: 19th Street between G Street and Pennsylvania Avenue; H Street between 18th and 20th streets; 18th, 19th and 20th between F and I streets; 17th from New York Avenue to I Street; and Pennsylvania, F and G streets between 17th and 21st streets. In addition, H Street is closed from 21st Street through Connecticut Avenue. Police expect to keep all those streets shut until at least 5 a.m. Monday, but they said streets could be reopened sooner, depending on the circumstances.
On Sunday, anti-globalization demonstrators will head to the Foggy Bottom offices of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are holding their spring meetings this weekend. That group of protesters will march from 16th and Euclid streets NW to the World Bank. That route could affect traffic on 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, H and I streets, plus New York and Connecticut avenues.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
