Continued Corporate Media Coverage of Antiwar Protests at Bush Speech by
Media Mouse Email: media_mouse (at) hotmail.com (verified) Current rating:
0 31 Jan 2003 The corporate media continues to distort the facts--please
write the media and urge that they improve their coverage in the future.
GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
Police, protesters argue facts of Wednesday's peace rally
Friday, January 31, 2003
By Ted Roelofs The Grand Rapids Press
With the number of arrests now at 13, police and protesters continue to
spar over what really happened during Wednesday's protest of President
Bush's visit to Grand Rapids.
To 22-year-old Josephine Prince, her arrest for "inciting to riot" was
police overreaction -- and symptomatic of strategies to keep the protest
message under wraps.
"I stepped off the sidewalk and four police officers threw me on a car. I
only weigh 120 pounds and I'm a girl. It was very, very excessive," said
Prince, one of six people charged with inciting to riot, a 10-year felony.
The rest were charged with misdemeanors that include trespassing and
refusing to obey police.
Grand Rapids police met with officials from the Kent County prosecutor's
office late Thursday to determine final charges when protesters are
arraigned next week.
Police defended their actions and maintained officers did what they had to
do to maintain order.
"The police were very professional," Capt. Pam Carrier said. "We wouldn't
just grab someone. We had enough information that warranted those arrests."
Carrier said those arrested range in age from 15 to 56, many of them under
age 21. She said most, if not all, were from West Michigan.
But protesters question why several hundred marchers were routed to
barricades a block from DeVos Hall -- where Bush was speaking -- while at
the same time a handful of sign-waving Bush supporters were allowed to
stand directly across from the hall.
"It was clearly a double standard," said Jeff Smith, a local peace activist
and one of the rally organizers.
"They were giving the people more sympathetic to the president a great more
freedom than they did us."
Carrier said police simply were executing security plans worked out ahead
of time in conjunction with the Secret Service.
"We don't care about their political views," Carrier said.
Smith and other organizers say publicity over the arrests overshadowed what
they term an impressive show of opposition to impending war with Iraq, a
rally that drew at least 500 people to the city.
Though police and protesters disagree about what happened and why, they
agree that much of the friction happened at two main points: a barricade on
Lyon Street, where several hundred marchers hit an unexpected dead-end; and
a smaller march after Bush left, when about 150 marchers took over city
streets and blocked traffic.
Protesters began to gather about 11 a.m. on Michigan Street across from
Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus, where Bush held a closed meeting to
discuss health issues. Police held them in a small area along the sidewalk
for approximately 45 minutes, until the Bush motorcade proceeded to DeVos
Performance Hall.
The group then was released to walk west on Michigan, then was directed
south on Ottawa Avenue and west to Lyon Street.
When the group turned on Lyon, it confronted a barricade and police tape
barring its progress. Marchers thought they were marching to a place in
front of DeVos Hall but found themselves at a dead end out of sight of the
hall.
"We didn't know that was going to be closed down," said Doug VanDoren,
minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church in Grand Rapids and
another rally organizer.
VanDoren said a police car raced down Lyon just ahead of the protesters to
ensure they would proceed no farther.
Protester Prince said at that point, some of the protesters tried to get
under the police tape.
"The police tackled them, and they were running to get back behind the
tape. It was ridiculous," Prince said.
Carrier was not sure why the group was routed to Lyon, while at the same
time Monroe Avenue was opened near DeVos Hall for protesters who arrived by
a different route.
"I don't know who directed them there," Carrier said.
VanDoren said tensions mounted for a time on Monroe when protesters noticed
that Bush supporters were allowed to stand outside the barricades in front
of the hall. Police later moved them back behind the barricades when
protesters complained, he said.
After Bush departed DeVos Hall and his motorcade exited the city, most of
the protesters dispersed.
But a group that police estimated at 150 continued to march south on Ottawa
Avenue, then make its way to Division Avenue, where it proceeded south,
then west on Fulton Street.
Jana Norlin, a Grand Rapids resident who attends regular peace rallies as
part of her Quaker faith, followed along with this group as it continued,
often on the opposite side of the street.
"It was just a bunch of younger people that were very inexperienced,"
Norlin said.
"The group that had organized and planned this was not able to carry out
their plan because all of the designated spots they planned to assemble
were blocked for security reasons.
"There was a lot of confusion."
Police said the crowd became unruly and refused to leave the street, posing
a traffic hazard.
"If you look at the number of protesters we had and the small amount
arrested, I think you'll see they acted with restraint," Carrier said of
the officers.
Northview High School student Chris Williams said he saw three of his
friends arrested -- singled out, he said, because they wear their hair in
spikes or mohawks.
"They just grabbed them and threw them on the cop car," Williams said. "The
force they used was just unnecessary."
---
WZZM 13:
Arrested Protesters Plead Case
Wednesday's visit by President Bush brought out hundreds of supporters..
and protesters.
Police say some of them crossed the line and now they're facing charges. As
of Thursday they were out of jail, but not yet out of trouble.
13 protesters still face charges for allegedly being unruly.
They were arrested Wednesday on several different charges ranging from
trespassing to inciting a riot.
The 13 protesters were then taken to jail for about four or five hours and
finally released on bond ... they'll have to go to court next week.
We're told the people arrested were from West Michigan.
One protester we spoke with says she was doing nothing wrong .. simply
expressing her right to free speech and assembly.
She also says police used excessive force.
The police paint a different picture. "We were marching and chanting, and i
stepped off the sidewalk and three grown police officers grabbed me and
threw me into a car, or on top of a car," says protester Josephine Prince.
"We did give orders to stay out of the street, they were blocking traffic,
they were making it not safe for other citizens," says Captain Pamela
Carrier of the grand Rapids Police Department.
The one protester we spoke with is charged with inciting a riot.
That is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. See also:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news-6/10440279364470.xml
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/newsdefaultpopoff.asp?cmd=view&articleid=5650
Link: www.michiganimc.org
