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WRL at the RNC

RL expected to be responsible for a lot of arrests at the RNC. In the end, however, the League may have to share the credit with the New York Police Department.

Protest continues as August 31 demonstrators under arrest near World Trade Center site. Ruth Benn .

As a founding member of United for Peace and Justice, of course WRL had a contingent at the big march August 29. But its primary convention week activity was organizing—along with School of the Americas Watch, Voices in the Wilderness, Veterans for PeaceVeterans for Peace and others—a three-part demonstration called for August 31 (A31), the day that had been set aside for civil disobedience actions. The WRL protest was to start with a one-hour vigil at Ground Zero at the former World Trade Center site, followed by a solemn procession uptown to the Madison Square Garden convention site. Once there—or as close to it as police would allow—protesters planned a nonviolent “die-in,” calling attention to the terrible toll the Bush administration wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken. No permit had been applied for, because a march that doesn’t disrupt traffic is protected by the First Amendment whether or not it has a permit.

Around 3 p.m., up to a thousand protesters gathered for the vigil against war. An hour later, as the march was stepping off, police quickly corralled some 300 people along Fulton Street. Most had lined up two-by-two for what they believed to be a legal, albeit unpermitted march. Instead, they were stopped by the police, who, without issuing the usual warning to disperse or risk arrest, informed everyone on the block that they were under arrest. After releasing some with media credentials, the police took 227 people into custody, charged with disorderly conduct and blocking pedestrian traffic.

One arresting officer told some of the detainees that she felt the police had to intervene because they didn’t know who we were or what was planned. “After what happened there,” she said, pointing down the block to the World Trade Center site (and echoing the Bush administration’s rationale for war), “it is better to act pre-emptively.” She remained unphased when told that The New York Times that morning had published the plan for the action, helpfully including a map of the intended route up Broadway.

After a delay, the remaining demonstrators back at Ground Zero headed north. A line of some 500 people, stretching as long as eight blocks, walked without blocking the sidewalk. Escorted by a few police, the marchers took a roundabout route uptown. Police blocked further progress at 28th Street, just a few blocks from the convention. A little after 7 p.m., a large group walked into the street for the planned die-in, which blocked Broadway for nearly an hour. Fifty-four were arrested, while 150 supporters remained on the sidewalks. Police, following the standard practice they had ignored earlier in the day, issued several warnings and took care not to arrest anyone not intending to be arrested.

All protesters arrested that day were taken to the holding pens at the former bus depot on a pier along the Hudson River and then brought to the police department’s central booking facility, from which they were released over the next few days. Over the next several days, the lawyer representing most of the Ground Zero defendants—Marty Stolar, president of the New York City chapter of the National Lawyers Guild—pressed the Manhattan District Attorney to drop charges against all those arrested at Ground Zero.

In early October, a Manhattan Criminal Court judge dismissed all charges against those arrested near the World Trade Center. Assistant District Attorney William Beesch, while arguing those arrested had broken the law, admitted that he couldn’t prove they had, in part because the police had created confusion by telling demonstrators they could have a “safe march” if they obeyed certain conditions, “likely creat[ing] the impression among participants that the march had official sanction.” Said WRL’s Anti-Militarism Coordinator G. Simon Harak who was among those whose charges were dropped, “The DA couldn’t ‘prove’ we were guilty because we weren’t.” He added, “On August 31, we obeyed the police directives, and they still arrested us. Now they’re saying that they can’t convict us in court, but they’re still trying to convict us in the court of public opinion.”

In addition to participating in planned lawsuits against the city, WRL’s New York City local quickly announced it would lead another nonviolent march to the World Trade Center to reinforce that right. New York local organizer (and former WRL National Office staffer) Ruth Benn said, “To demonstrate that we will not be cowed or intimidated by the government’s tactics, the War Resisters League will lead another nonviolent march, again beginning from the World Trade Center site. We need to reclaim that public space for the people, and away from those who would deprive us of our First Amendment rights.” —NVA