Hundreds Arrested in New York Anti-Bush
Bike Protest
Reuters
| August 28 2004
Comment: For photos of the arrests, click
here.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of cyclists
snarled traffic in New York on Friday night and police said they arrested
more than 250 people and confiscated their bicycles in the first significant
protest against President Bush before the Republican convention.
More demonstrations were expected on Saturday, including
a march across the Brooklyn Bridge organized by Planned Parenthood group
to support women's constitutional right to choose an abortion and other
reproductive health issues.
There were also two events planned by peace groups opposed
to the Bush administration's military and diplomatic responses to the Sept.
11 attacks on America by Islamic militants.
Friday night's protest lasted several hours at a time when
central Manhattan was crowded with theatergoers and people at restaurants
and bars. Traffic was brought to a virtual standstill in the chaos.
Many of the protesters chanted "No more Bush"
as the Republicans prepared to nominate the president at the Aug. 30-Sept.
2 convention in Madison Square Garden to run for a second White House term
in the November election against Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts.
Police said they arrested 264 people and seized their bicycles
in the protest mounted by a group called Critical Mass, which wants to boost
the rights of cyclists in traffic-clogged city streets. It stages rides
in cities around the world on the last Friday of each month.
The New York Police Department said in a statement that
about 5,000 cyclists gathered at Union Square in Manhattan for the ride
and that officers warned cyclists about breaking traffic laws.
But activists said police over-reacted and began cordoning
off riders and arresting them when they broke naturally into groups after
stopping at traffic lights or otherwise slowing down.
A member of "Reality Check A31 Media," which
is monitoring convention protests for activists who have come to New York
from all over the country, said police arrested many cyclists after they
ended the ride at a church.
"The police mobilized a very big disruption and oppression
and arrests," said Brad Taylor of A31, a group that has announced a
series of civil disobedience actions during the convention.
The largest anti-Bush demonstration is scheduled for Sunday
when an estimated 200,000 are expected to march past Madison Square Garden
to decry the war in Iraq and other Bush policies under the banner "The
World Says No To The Bush Agenda."
The United for Peace and Justice group organizing Sunday's
march was denied a permit to rally in Central Park because city officials
said a large crowd would damage the grass. (Additional reporting by Jeanne
King)
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