Sept. 23, 2005 – Pointing to reports that activists in hundreds of cities are arranging buses and caravans to travel to the nation’s capitol, the coalition of anti-war groups behind this weekend’s Washington, DC anti-war rally is expecting 100,000 people or more to attend the three-day event. Police in the capital city will also be tested under a new law restricting some of their preferred intimidation and corral tactics.
Sign up to receive NewStandard headlines and extras by e-mail weekday mornings!
Protest organizers are expecting groups from more than 200 cities to join in the rally.
In addition to this weekend’s events, several anti-war groups have kicked in for a $1 million advertising campaign. The media saturation effort started yesterday as the coalition Win Without War took out ads in many of the nation’s newspapers.
The two-page fund-raising ad carries pictures and quotes of President Bush and administration officials pertaining to the Iraq war on its left side; to their right is a list of all the known US military personnel killed in military operations through the end of last week.
The ad makes no mention of Iraqi suffering.
The Saturday morning events in Washington officially begin with a 10 o’clock march, but some organizations are planning earlier actions. The women’s antiwar organization Code Pink is holding an anti-Halliburton-profiteering rally tonight to protest the ongoing no-bid contracts awarded to the company despite known fiscal malfeasance, the group said in a statement yesterday.
Events over the weekend include a concert Saturday headlined by the Bouncing Souls, former Dead Kennedy’s front man Jello Biafra and West Coast militant socialist hip-hop artists The Coup, in addition to the rally and festival on the Mall.
Groups are holding a variety of religious and secular events Sunday, including several workshops on nonviolent civil disobedience in preparation for Monday’s day of lobbying and "direct action."
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The rally is the first major protest event Washington’s law-enforcement agencies will police under a new DC law restricting mass arrests. The law requires police to be clearly identifiable, prohibits cops from penning up nonviolent protesters and bars the Department from arresting people – even in non-permitted marches – so long as they do not block roads or sidewalks or individually violate laws.
