Thousands of protesters march in N.Y. on eve of GOP gathering
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5822306/

'No more years!' chant Bush foes

The Associated Press
Updated: 2:19 p.m. ET Aug. 29, 2004NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of Bush administration opponents poured into Manhattan’s streets Sunday on the eve of the Republican National Convention, angrily but peacefully denouncing the war in Iraq and demanding the United States withdraw its forces.

Flanked by police in riot gear and led by a line of celebrities including actor Danny Glover and filmmaker Michael Moore, the protesters moved through the fortified city on a circular route that took them through midtown and passed Madison Square Garden, where the convention opens Monday.

The marchers, chanting slogans like “No more years” and carrying anti-Bush signs, filled nearly 20 city blocks on a sunny, steamy day with temperatures in the upper 80s. Supporters leaned from windows to cheer them on. Organizers claimed up to 250,000 people would participate in what was expected to be the largest protest of the week.

No immediate crowd count was available.

City officials implored demonstrators to be peaceful. No violence was reported, though about 45 protesters on bicycles were detained and bound with plastic handcuffs just off the march route, police said. No further details were immediately available.

Some demonstrators carried fly-swatters bearing Bush’s face. Others batted around a 6-foot inflatable globe. One sign echoed Democratic nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam-era remark: “How do you ask a soldier to be the last person to die for a lie?” Another read “Bush lies. Who dies?”

“Today we send our message,” said Leslie Cagan, leader of United for Peace and Justice, the march’s organizer.

Some convention-goers looked on from behind police lines as demonstrators jeered them, shouting: “Go home!” At one corner, about 10 people drew verbal assaults for their banner, “In God and President Bush we can trust.”

Moore speaks
Moore addressed protesters at a gathering 10 blocks south of the convention site. He repeated his belief that most people oppose the war in Iraq and the Bush administration.

“The majority of this country wants the Bush administration out of office,” the “Fahrenheit 9-11” director said. “The majority never voted for the Bush administration, and the majority are here to say, ‘It’s time to have our country back in our hands.”’

Hundreds of protesters carried mock coffins made of cardboard boxes draped with homemade American flags to represent military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Would anyone like to volunteer to be a pallbearer today?” asked protester Ken Miller, 38, a city maintenance worker. “These are lighter than they look.”

The causes varied as much as the people shouting support: immigrants’ rights, gay rights, universal health care, the Palestinian cause, an end to the killing in Sudan. Tracy Blevins, a biomedical researcher who lived in New York recently, died her Maltese pink and carried the little dog in a baby pouch to advocate peace.

Sunday’s protest followed several days of demonstrations throughout the city, staged by an array of activist groups.

The most rancorous was Friday, when 264 people were arrested for disorderly conduct in a protest bicycle ride that snaked through the city. On Saturday, 25 people were arrested in convention-related incidents, bringing the total for the three days to 311, police said.

More events
Besides the United for Peace and Justice march, a number of other events were planned Sunday, including a gay rights demonstration and a vigil in Central Park by a group of Sept. 11 families opposed to the Iraq war.

“I hope we show a strong dissent,” said Laura Pessieri, 27, a protester from New Jersey who carried a sign showing Bush alongside the slogan, “An Imminent Threat to Democracy.”

The New York Daily News made a pitch for calm, publishing a front-page editorial Sunday with the headline, “Play Nice.” On the city’s subways and regional commuter lines, security was tight and visible, with police making frequent walks through train cars and eyeing passengers up and down.

In a radio address Sunday, Mayor Michael Blooomberg acknowledged the intense feelings on both sides but said the convention was an important event for New York. He promised all-out efforts to ensure safety.

“We’ve put in place a security plan that is thorough, measured, and that protects the rights of convention-goers and protesters without unnecessarily getting in the way of New Yorkers as we go about our daily lives,” Bloomberg said.