Anti-War Protest - New York City - February 15, 2003
Videos and
photos
by Maggie
Clarke
These are copyrighted. If you want to use them, please ask me first.
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Anti-War Protest - New York City - February 15, 2003 Videos and
photos These are copyrighted. If you want to use them, please ask me first. |
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Video: Incident with Police Horses - NW corner, 53rd St. & 3rd Ave: (for best results, use Internet Explorer) (for PCs download free Windows
media viewer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp
(This is an .asf file:
Open it in Microsoft Windows Media Viewer; it should open up automatically
if you have a PC. If not, let me know. |
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| This incident took place somewhere around 4pm at the NW
corner of 53rd St and 3rd Ave., Manhattan. I was standing on the sidewalk there
with lots of others amused by the Giant Bush and Cheney heads behaving like
apes. Without any attempt at explanation (via
bullhorn) or warning, the police started marching their teams of horses onto
sidewalks. I saw it happening on the NE corner, but didn't realize
they were actually trying to clear sidewalks (as well as streets).
We'd been told it was legal to stand on sidewalks! Then came the SW
corner. I took some video when the horses first came to our area but
didn't quite believe it when I saw the sidewalk cleared and nothing but
horses down towards 52nd St. Then, without warning, they turned
towards us. Again, no attempt at communication with words (e.g., like
maybe the
rally was over a half hour ago, and we urge you to go home). Nooooo!
That's too rational for the police. The takeover was
very quick, and it is a miracle that no one fell over backwards getting
trampled by the horses, who were clearly terrified (look at the video and
the photos above).
I'd started out on the feeder march walking with the crowds leaving the Public Library around 12:30. We went up Fifth avenue to St. Patrick's Cathedral, turned right on 50th St, and made our way to 3rd Avenue. It was slow going. At 3rd we headed north to 57th St at which point we were trapped by police. I went back down to about 53rd St, where again we were prevented from moving further. Police also barracaded every street so that no one could proceed east. I tried to move east on the northeast corner of 53rd and 3rd, but extricated myself since I was getting the breath squeezed out of me. There seemed to be people standing on top of a truck. Police kept wanting people to head north, but I knew that was futile as that was blocked off too. I'd been standing at the NW corner of 53rd and 3rd for about 20 minutes. People were stationary there, chanting, since there was nowhere to go. Very peaceful. Amused by some giant Bush and Cheney puppets. No trouble, but then the horses came in. There was no provocation from the demonstrators from what I could tell. Just prior to the horses, the police picked up barracades and pushed them quickly towards the crowds to back them out of 3rd avenue. Then a fire truck was sent in towards the West to clear out 53rd St. Because people were packed in tightly, any sudden movements, as the police were doing, meant great possibility of being thrown off-balance. Never once was a bullhorn used for communication with everyone. My question is, why
are the police and Mayor Bloomberg being given a pass here? Is this not
illegal, if not downright dangerous (not to mention stupid)? And for what? Nobody in the crowd was
violent, even though cops were pushing them around and penning them up.
Some cops said that they were clearing the streets for pedestrians!!! So
the question is, do a few pedestrians have more voice than hundreds of
thousands of other citizens of this city? If so, why is that? Same can be
said for the extreme measures the cops took to crowd everybody onto the
sidewalks in the first place. After they did so, using at first, barricades,
which they simply picked up and pushed into people, knocking them backwards,
then by using a fire truck (not headed to a fire). There were maybe 3 or 5
in each of the buses that came through when they did clear the streets, and some people in private cars.
Why is it that these few people, who demand use of the road, are given more
rights than the thousands who also want to use the road for important
democratic process? Is there no judgment at all in City Hall? Is it that the Mayor supports the war, so he
is squelching dissent? Is That legal? BTW, the cops I spoke with before
the horse incident were just doing what they were told for the most part.
It's the upper management that needs to be interviewed. What is their
rationale? Does it hold water? Where is the City Council on this? Do we
need to make laws to allow people to stand on sidewalks in this City? |
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