Author: AMM (403 Articles)
Mothers of three sons serving our country and co-founder of Military Families Voice of Victory. AMM was one of the first women and Military Mothers to disagree with Cindy Sheehan on the record in interviews with the Associated Press. Bio Page
SDS, Code Pink and just Anarchist in general have been causing damage from coast to coast today in protest of the anniversary of the Iraq invasion.
Milwaukee
Army Recruiting Station Vandalized
By Jay Sorgi
Story Updated: Mar 19, 2008
People driving by the Army Recruiting Station on Milwaukee’s east side are finding it boarded up with a vandal’s message on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War.
Vandals put graffiti saying “War Is Offensive” and broke windows at the facility on the 3100 block of North Oakland Avenue, near the UWM campus.
Washington DC
SDS threw paint bombs, rocks and damaged police cars. Witnesses have reported that MPDC Chief Cathy Lanier has ordered the police to do nothing if the center was attacked.
San Fransisco
3:37 pm Legal observers have reportedly been dispatched to the recruitment station on Davis. The newspaper box that was thrown bore an SF Examiner label. The FM transmission will be taken down at 4pm, but the radio stream will continue for a while after that.
3:21 pm Police backup has arrived to help block the door of the Marine/Army/Airforce Recruiting Station. Activists somewhat dispersed- not directly in front of station. About 10 protesters are talking with cops in front of station. Both activists and police have kept up a presence at station all day, but there had been a plan for a peaceful protest inside the center.
3:19 pm Codepink, Raging Grannies Action League, and some black blockers are at the recruitment center on Davis (3pm demo). A newsstand was thrown at the police car. Slight property damage.
The AP gave a fluff report without showing the damage.
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IOWA
2 arrested at Iraq war protest at military recruiting center
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Two people have been arrested during a protest marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.
Eleven protesters with Des Moines Catholic Workers crowded into the hallway at the Armed Forces Career Center in Des Moines.
Police were called and the protesters were told to leave the recruiting center or face arrest.
Ed Bloomer and Kirk Brown, both of Des Moines, were arrested for trespassing and taken to jail.
MASS
BOSTON
Protesters dressed as wounded soldiers and civilians were arrested today outside a Boston military recruiting station after they refused to move away from the door.
Boston police gave the group a 5-minute warning to back off, but they refused and were arrested outside the Tremont Street building.
The five protesters were blocking the entrance to the Armed Forces Career Center located across from the Park Street police station.
The group also spilled fake blood all around the scene, with the rain carrying the ink down the street.
Seattle
[youtube ukfHikg55vE&]
Also Memorial Damage
Alaska
Vandals dump paint on veterans memorial
Vandals dumped a bucket of red paint on a downtown veterans memorial this morning, the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in what police suspect was a symbolic act of protest. Passers-by spotted the blood-toned paint on the Anchorage Veterans Memorial, in the Delaney Park Strip off I Street, during the morning commute and reported it to police. The soldier’s helmet was blood red, with the paint dripping down to the ground below.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) must enforce local law and the rights afforded to every person under the United States Constitution. The law allows MPD personnel to make arrests only when there is probable cause to do so. The MPD cannot arrest every peaceful demonstrator for the sake of a few rowdy participants. There has not, and will never be a directive from Chief Cathy Lanier or a member of her command staff to do nothing when the law is being broken.
The report that no arrest were to be follow was phone into us at the scene.
The paint bombs were made from paint in glass. The photos of the DC police pelted with red paint that was contained in glass doesn’t really look very peaceful.
We fully support peaceful assembly by both sides. But we do believe that laws should be upheld. Destruction of public property is not peaceful.
Why were there no arrests over destruction of property at Bechtel and the Recruiting Center?
Berkley did a better job of protecting public property yesterday.
Regarding the doublespeak response from MPD Public Information Office: That’s the biggest load of bullsh** I’ve read in a long, long time.
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“The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) must enforce local law and the rights afforded to every person under the United States Constitution.”
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Yes, chief Lanier, you must enforce local law; but on March 19, 2008 you did not do so.
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“The law allows MPD personnel to make arrests only when there is probable cause to do so.”
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In two separate attacks, five glass bottles filled with red paint, one large rock and multiple other smaller projectiles were hurled at the people standing peacefully on the sidewalk in front of the 14th and L St. NW recruiting center.
I think that is “probable cause.”
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“The MPD cannot arrest every peaceful demonstrator for the sake of a few rowdy participants.”
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Yelling and beating on drums is rowdy. Hurling projectiles at unarmed civilians is a life-threatening act.
Ordering your officers to do nothing is reckless endangerment of not only the officers, but of the civilians you claim to protect.
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“There has not, and will never be a directive from Chief Cathy Lanier or a member of her command staff to do nothing when the law is being broken.”
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Chief Lanier, how stupid do you think we are? You issued orders to your officers which stripped them of the power to halt the mob, arrest the rioters, defend innocent civilians and defend themselves from a potentially life-threatening attack.
You, young lady, were very lucky that those glass bottles held only red paint and not some caustic substance, Molotov cocktail, poisonous liquid or gas, a hand grenade or other explosive device.
The radicals tested you on March 19th, and you did not let them down. Now that they know they can push you at least this far without consequence, they will ratchet up their “direct action” a little more the next time. You have given a green light to the homegrown terrorists. And don’t think for one minute that the foreign terrorists aren’t taking note of your passive response to attack.
You failed your officers. You failed the residents of your city. You failed the workers of the city. And you failed the innocent tourists who come to their nation’s capital expecting that their constitutional rights will be upheld by you and your police force.
Your dereliction of duty and command is going to get somebody killed.
“You have given a green light to the homegrown terrorists. And don’t think for one minute that the foreign terrorists aren’t taking note of your passive response to attack.” OMG! OMG! The terrorists are coming. Run for the hills. I’m so scared. “Your dereliction of duty and command is going to get somebody killed.” Lots of people have been killed already…..in Iraq.