Estimated 500,000 protested in Washington

[Sava]

War Protesters Rally in Washington


By Manny Fernandez and Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 18, 2003; 7:09 PM


Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters converged on Washington today, braving the bitter cold in thunderous numbers and assembling in the shadow of the Capitol dome to voice their opposition to a U.S. military strike against Iraq.

Throughout a morning rally on the National Mall and an afternoon march to the Washington Navy Yard, activists criticized the Bush administration for rushing into a war with Iraq that they claimed would kill thousands of Iraqi civilians, spell disaster for the national economy and set a dangerous and unjustified first-strike precedent for U.S. foreign policy.

They delivered that message on a day when being outdoors tested everyone's endurance. Marchers were bundled in attire fit not for a protest, but for a ski trip. Men, women and children fought off temperatures no higher than 24 degrees in ski masks and goggles, stashes of hot soup in containers in their backpacks. Many sneaked away from the cause momentarily to warm up on an idling bus or to stand in line for a cup of coffee.

"The world is cold but our hearts are warm," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the crowd to applause. He was one of many speakers that included New York civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, actress Jessica Lange and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.).

Organizers of the demonstration, the activist coalition International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), said the protest was larger than one they sponsored in Washington in October. District police officials suggested then that about 100,000 attended, and although some organizers agreed, they have since put the number closer to 200,000. This time, they said, the turnout was 500,000. Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he would not provide an estimate, but said it was bigger than October's. "It's one of the biggest ones we've had, certainly in recent times," he said.

Ramsey said there were only a couple of minor incidents; a Capitol police spokeswoman reported two arrests, one for disorderly conduct and one for writing graffiti on a Library of Congress building.

D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department officials said three people were taken to hospitals, including a woman who had a seizure. The health problems were not believed serious and were not weather-related, officials said.

The demonstration coincided with other national and international antiwar protests. Thousands attended rallies in other U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Tampa. Protests also were held in other countries. Organizers selected today for protests partly because of the approaching Jan. 27 deadline for the first major report by weapons inspectors in Iraq, a date many activists said could trigger war. The events were also meant to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and many speakers invoked his legacy.

Regardless of the exact number, the crowd today on the Mall was the largest anti-war demonstration here since the Vietnam era. People packed much of four long blocks of the Mall, shoulder-to-shoulder in many sections, from 3rd to 7th streets SW between Madison and Jefferson drives for the 11 a.m. rally. The first marchers stepped off at about 1:30 p.m., and when many had begun reaching the Navy Yard more than two dozen blocks away about an hour later, protesters were still leaving the rally site.

Those who hoped the president and much of Congress would witness the thousands in the streets of Washington were out of luck; the president was in Camp David and Congress is out of session.

It hardly mattered for some. Marchers spoke of a surging grass-roots political power. "The antiwar movement is now at a whole new level," said Tony Murphy, a spokesman for ANSWER, which was formed three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a response to the Bush administration's war on terrorism at home and abroad. "Now we're talking about a force that can really stop the war. It's not just a hopeful attitude. It's a real sense that it's possible."

The demonstration drew people of all walks of life from both coasts and all points in between, as scores of college students, thirty-something families and senior citizens traveled to Washington by charter bus, car caravan, plane, train and, in the case of one determined Iowa State University student, by foot.

On the snow-covered grass of the Mall and in the narrow streets along the march through Southeast Washington, handwritten signs and banners bobbed, distilling the day: "War is not a Christian belief," "No blood for oil" and "Freezing out here for peace."

"We want peace," said Mari Anderson, 59, of Titusville, Fla., a chemical specialist at a Florida power plant who took a 14-hour drive to Washington with a friend and walked along Pennsylvania Avenue NW this morning to join the throngs rallying on the Mall. "We want diplomatic solutions. Saddam Hussein hasn't done anything to us in 11 years."

Alex Maertens, 30, who lives near the Southeast Washington march route, fit the protest into her other chores for the day. "I don't like having to march with people who are sentimental fools, but I happen to think that this war is an immense mistake," said Maertens, a toxicologist studying at Johns Hopkins University. "The burden of proof is on us and that case has not been established."

Marching with a packed crowd along Independence Avenue SE, Nancy Paton, 49, said she came with her 23-year-old daughter on one of four busloads from her Westland, Mich., inter-faith church. Paton said she had never been part of a political protest. "I kind of felt powerless to do anything about this proposed war on Iraq," she said, adding that she was moved to join the protest because the war "is more about oil than terrorism. After this war in Afghanistan, it seems like Bush just wants to keep going."

Through the day, the debate over whether the United States should use military force against Saddam Hussein spilled onto the sidewalks and street corners of the city's center and outside the gates of the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington. Counter-protesters, some organized and others not, offered their opinion of the antiwar activists.

"You guys should go get a job," said a man traveling in the passenger side of a black SUV that pulled over briefly to heckle protesters in the morning on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Later in the day, on the Pennsylvania Avenue SE march route, a group of people sharing a bottle of champagne on one building's second-floor balcony displayed a sign reading, "Hippies Go Home." Protesters responded, "We are home."

When the march approached the intersection of 8th and I streets SE outside the U.S. Marine Corps barracks, where about 50 counter-protesters gathered for a rally, the counter-demonstrators, including many war veterans, chanted "Swim to Cuba," and "We gave peace a chance; we got 9-11." In return, the protesters shouted back, "We don't want your oil war." The march stopped for 10 minutes, and during the delay Chief Ramsey walked up and down the lines of officers separating the marchers from the counter-protesters.

Exchanges proved far more civil elsewhere.

On a Blue Line Metro train headed for the Mall area, one goateed middle-aged man loudly lectured other protesters – and anyone else in earshot – about the history of Iraq, and the way the United States was complicit in every development there in the past 50 years. Others on the car listened intently, and thanked him as he left the train at Smithsonian Station.

Activists cited a number of reasons why – in the middle of a numbingly cold Washington winter, for a $35 to $110 seat on a packed bus spending anywhere from a couple to more than 24 hours on the road – they came to Washington. Some said they were pacifists opposed to war no matter what the circumstances. Others said they were moved to action because they felt the Bush administration was rushing into an unjustified war with Iraq, viewing the march as a kind of election in which to cast a vote with their bodies.

"I am here to tell people who might have questions about the war that they're not alone," said Brian Harrison, 21, a Texas college student who sat on a charter bus for a 27-hour ride from Houston to attend the demonstration. "So many people are so riled up about the war that they're willing to travel great distances to physically testify their opposition."

The cold, though, was never far from the minds of the protesters, including Harrison, who said he had never seen snow on the ground. "I've actually never been this cold before," he said.

"The sun had really helped," said Joanne Catizzi, 51, a Baltimore school teacher. "I was really afraid I was going to freeze my butt off." But Shelby Berkowitz, 32, a graduate student in psychology from Lansing, Mich., asked, "What's the suffering from standing out in the cold compared to the suffering inflicted by U.S. policies in the world?"

Antiwar demonstrations continue tomorrow in Washington. Youth and students who took part in today's march plan their own demonstration, with an 11 a.m. rally and march from the Department of Justice to the White House.

Civil disobedience is planned at the White House by D.C. Iraq Pledge of Resistance and United for Peace. Following an 11:30 a.m. rally at Farragut Square, hundreds will risk arrest to show their opposition to war, organizers said.

At the end of today's march about 5 p.m., protesters said they were pleased and hoped the Bush administration would hear their message. "It turned out very well despite the weather," said Jon Mays, 32, an engineer from Clinton. "It made me proud that we have people that are coming together for one cause."

Staff writers David A. Fahrenthold, Avram Goldstein, Hamil Harris, Chris L. Jenkins, Carol Morello and Monte Reel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Good to see that many braved the cold weather to let Bush know he's going to be held accountable for his actions .

[Asher]

Glad to see so many people care, but it's also kinda funny that so many people really thought Bush gives a damn what they think.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Asher
Glad to see so many people care, but it's also kinda funny that so many people really thought Bush gives a damn what they think.

That's why you won't find my ass out in the cold.

[Nubclear]

There was actually a protest over here where I live, too.

Glad to see some Mormons oppose the war.

[Faboba]

There are always 500,000 people in Washington.

[Lefty Scaevola]

The 500,000 figure is BS.

[DanS]

U.S. Capitol Police suggested today's antiwar street march drew between 30,000 and 50,000 people. Protest organizers said that the number was closer to 500,000. District police settled on "an awful lot of people."

The number of people always looks more than it actually is.

[Sava]

yeah I didn't read the whole article... I'm such a lazy ass.

[Sava]

Organizers of the demonstration, the activist coalition International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), said the protest was larger than one they sponsored in Washington in October. District police officials suggested then that about 100,000 attended, and although some organizers agreed, they have since put the number closer to 200,000. This time, they said, the turnout was 500,000. Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he would not provide an estimate, but said it was bigger than October's. "It's one of the biggest ones we've had, certainly in recent times," he said.

Wait a minute Danny boy, where'd you find that other little bit?

[DanS]

No, it was a different article in the Post.

[Sava]

oh okay, I was about to go crazy cuz I though it was the same article

[Faboba]

Could anyone there count?

[Lancer]

They even had a protest in my little town of 5000 about a month back. All these folks carrying witty signs and dressed up funny and carrying little missiles made of cardboard and paper mache all dancing around. They went back and forth across the main drag when the light turned red. They smiled and waved...we in the trucks and cars who were their momentarily captive audience mosty just flipped them off or made other obsene gestures. Some people rolled down windows and shouted generic death threats. Then the light turned and life went on.

I read in another forum about how a bunch of them were going to Iraq to serve as human shields. I'm all for that actually.

The bombs are smarter than the war protesters.

[ixnay]

There was a picture on the frontpage of CNN.com today of a peace rally in Missoula, MT...

[Faboba]

Originally posted by Lancer
They even had a protest in my little town of 5000 about a month back.

5000? What is that in real figures; 50,000 or 50?

[Lancer]

There are aprox 5,000 residents in my town. There were maybe 30 protesters dancing around.

[Thrawn05]

Whenever I hear the words "Estimated X protesters in Y", I use this formula:

(X - 5000) / 2 =| Z |

Where Z is the real number.

Wait a week when a real headcount is released.

[Faboba]

So your offical prediction for the headcount in Lancer's town is... nothing?

"Nothing will come of nothing."

I always suspected the press was merely a sponsored organ for pretenseless fabrication.

[Thrawn05]

QUOTE:
___________________________________
Originally posted by Faboba
So your offical prediction for the headcount in Lancer's town is... nothing?
___________________________________

Yup, sounds about right.

[Oerdin]

It seems like every time there is a protest or march in D.C. the organizers always tell us there were ten times more people then their actually was there.

Do any of you remember when that bigot Louis Farakan put on the Million Man March? He screamed and yelled for days that the Washington Police were racists because they estimated the crowd was only 75,000 instead of the 1 million the black nationalists claimed.

[David Floyd]

[Lancer]

I recall the million man march. I think the police finally sent the guy home.

What were they protesting for anyway? Bad math advocates?

[Timexwatch]

I was there for the entire thing, including the march. I'll post pictures tomorrow, hopefully. I'll answer questions soon or post reflections later.

As to the 500,000 estimate, they were tossing around that number before people started marching. From what I saw, the line of people stretched from the Navy Yard to the Capitol. That's more than 10 city blocks, IIRC. How many people is that? I don't know.

[chequita guevara]

I really wanted to go, too.

[Bosh]

Couldn't show up myself, just got back to college otherwise we'd have sent at least a busload or two down

Only hesitation is that I'm not a big fan of ANSWER's, they actually ARE a communist front (the Maoist RCP IIRC).

[Par4]

Ya'll shoulda been at the San Fran protest...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Boshko
Only hesitation is that I'm not a big fan of ANSWER's, they actually ARE a communist front (the Maoist RCP IIRC).

And exactly where would the anti-war movement be without commies organizing them? Nowhere, that's where. Whatever qualms you may have about the RCP (and I know them better than you), if it weren't for them and Workers World (who is leading the other main group), the anti-war movement would be at least six months behind where it is now.

[DanS]

Maoists, eh? They're bad news.

[Seeker]

If protests are supposed to be a measure of popular discontent, shouldn't there be some way of getting estimates, maybe the Department of Transportation?

Independant third party?

30 000-50 000 is the usual professional demonstrators, albeit lots of them.

500 000 is a small city, or fifty WWII infantry divisions. They would represent a big chunk of other people.

But well never know, because we can't even get a guess within the nearest 100 000.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
Maoists, eh? They're bad news.

Mostly they're just silly. Maoists in the 1st world argue that the working class has became a reactionary class, in league with the capitalists in oppressing the 3rd World proletariet. They're not completely wrong, but then they go and say that the 1st world working class is no longer the proletariet (uhm, actually the definition of proletariet is those who have nothing to sell but their labor-power, comrades) and that the urban poor minorities are now the "proletariet" (i.e. the revolutionary class, in Maoism, the proletariet is whomever agrees with Mao Zedon thought ).

So when you pay attention to the RCP you tend to see stuff like suburban white kids living in the hard-core ghetto trying to preach to the oppressed masses. In Chicago the RCP is officially considered a gang by the CPD because of their shennanigans in and around Cabrini-Green (the city's tearing down the projects, but they aren't replacing the housing, the RCP is trying to organize the residents to resist).