Washington police brace for more demonstrations

Posted 7:49AM on Monday 22nd April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

WASHINGTON - With a weekend of largely peaceful protests behind them, police braced for more demonstrations Monday that could cause traffic disruptions in the capital as the work week resumed. Groups opposed to U.S. military aid to Colombia said they would march without a permit Monday morning between the Washington Monument and the Capitol and block streets with sit-ins along the way. "They are looking at intentionally trying to disrupt rush-hour traffic ... and if that happens it's going to cause us some difficulties and be a huge inconvenience to the motoring public," Police Chief Charles Ramsey said Sunday. "We're still trying to work with organizers to get them either not to do it or tell us what they are going to do." Ramsey advised commuters to take public transportation instead of driving or be prepared for long delays. Jeff Winder, an organizer of the Colombia protest, said demonstrators who believe U.S. policies worsen violent conflicts in the South American country would "march peacefully and nonviolently, but we are going to carry our message forcefully." A few hundred protesters met Sunday night to plan the march and get legal advice about being arrested. Other groups were planning protests Monday outside the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group. Activists were drawn to Washington over the weekend by the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, attended by financial leaders from throughout the globe. The meeting ended Sunday. City officials had braced for the worst from anti-globalization protesters who have clashed with police several times since their movement surfaced with violent demonstrations in Seattle in 1999. During protests at the financial institutions' spring meeting in Washington two years ago, police made 1,300 arrests. But the weekend protests were largely peaceful, with police praising organizers for keeping the events orderly. Sixty-five people in two groups were arrested for interfering with traffic and unlawfully entering a parking garage. Anti-globalization forces, who oppose policies they say benefit the rich and harm the poor in many nations, were joined this year by demonstrators with an array of causes. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters marched through the capital's streets to support the Palestinians and oppose the Bush administration's war on terrorism. About 1,000 demonstrators came out in a chilly drizzle Sunday, protesting outside the meeting of finance ministers and then marching to the National Mall for a rally against U.S. policies in Latin America. On the march, protesters chanted "the Earth is not for sale" and banged drums as they filled the street flanked by dozens of police riding motorcycles on sidewalks. Demonstrators waved to watching tourists and asked them to join the march.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202403