On Friday, the State Department held a hearing for members of the public to comment on a proposed pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to oil refineries in Texas. About five hundred people rallied against the pipeline a block from Freedom Plaza. That morning, about two hundred members of three labor unions had rallied in its favor in another small park across from Freedom Plaza. Union members then joined the long line of people who signed up to speak at the hearing.
While organized labor generally supports the occupation of Wall Street and DC, and was a big backer of the TBAD conference, the left is not uniform or unified. Indeed, just as the anti-pipeline rally was breaking up, about five hundred people from the Freedom Plaza occupation embarked on a march to the MLK memorial several blocks away. Those starting the march, those leaving the rally, and those caught in traffic all competed for street space while the DC police, who have their own union, earned their pay.
Saturday saw the first confrontation when a few hundred people marched to the Air and Space Museum to protest at an exhibit of unmanned drones. Several entering the museum to attempt a "die in" were repelled by a security guard with pepper spray. They retreated outside, bringing residue from the gas which made the air near the entrance unbreathable. Protestors outside responded by chanting "Shame" and "We are Peaceful" to the security guards.
The plan was for only ten to enter, carrying "bloody" sheets with which they were going to cover themselves when they lay on the floor. Two people were already inside with a long banner that said "No Drones. End Afghan War." They succeeded in dropping it from an upper balcony before it was torn from their hands. The presence of the pepper spray necessitated the closing of the museum for the rest of the day.
Sunday brought two more marches and one more incident. About fifty anti-war vets and their friends marched to the White House in front of which they planned to conduct a rally. One brought a shoe to throw over the White House Fence. Instead he threw it directly at a police officer, hitting him on the shoulder. He was quickly downed and the other protestors were moved to Lafayette Park.
Later that afternoon another fifty people marched from Freedom Plaza to the Federal Reserve building over a mile away. Their signs and chants said "End the Fed," a main objective of libertarian Congressman Ron Paul. It is not endorsed by left-wing economists.
The permit for Freedom Plaza expired at midnight Sunday. Occupiers planned to go out with a loud dance party. But when the party was over, the partiers stayed. After a day of uncertainty, the National Park Service extended their permit.
©2011 Jo Freeman for SeniorWomen.com
Photograph is from warisacrime.org of the banner raised at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum: "No Drones; End Afghan War"
More Articles
- Frontline: How "Obamacare" Became a Symbol of America's Divide | Divided States of America
- Women's Action for New Directions Demands US Senate Confirm Those "who have an established record of respecting the importance of diplomacy and other tools of statecraft over the unnecessary use of force"
- In Minnesota, Democratic Grandmothers Gather Data About Their Neighbors
- Culture and Political Watch, The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It
- Occupy! At CPAC
- Rekindling Their Power: The Comeback Governors of California, Iowa and Oregon
- Pew Research Looks At Older, 'Attentive' Americans and Opposition to Ryan Medicare Plan
- Main-Street Republicans, Hard-Pressed Democrats, Bystanders and Post Moderns: The Political Typology
- Pew Reports: The Tea Party, Religion and Social Issues
- Pew Research Finds That Independents Oppose Party in Power ... Again