Justice Action Movement's inaugurAUCTION.org 2000
Guide to Effective Participation
    in the 2001 Inauguration
  
& links
  D.C. rules of engagement ¤  
§‡§    
Davos The Inauguration is one of the few Presidential events in which the public may directly participate without being charged an entrance fee or campaign contribution.

The U.S. Govt has asserted that it is illegal for citizens to participate in the Inauguration if those persons express viewpoints critical of the President or advocate policies different from the Administration's. The Govt has declared such conduct violative of National Park Service (NPS) regulations and threatened to fine & arrest at the Inauguration any individual expressing such viewpoints. Before the 1997 Inauguration, the District of Columbia Circuit Court declared such threats to be unconstitutional, and ordered that the Govt must allow protesters in groups of up to 25.
cf. Mahoney v. Babbitt, 105 F.3d 1452 (D.C. Cir. 1997)
Davos 1.26.01 The authors maintain it is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment Right to Free Speech for the U.S. Govt to arrest any individual or group participants (regardless of the size of the group) at the Presidential Inauguration just because they participate in the Inauguration by expressing political dissent or views critical of the President.
This guide describes the NPS regulations and strategies for conducting effective political action within the NPS rules that restrict and sanction political dissent. It is intended to facilitate public participation in the Inauguration, despite the restrictions that the Govt has placed upon free speech, for those who do not have the time or resources to mount a constitutional challenge to the existing NPS regulations that restrict free speech, or who wish to demonstrate within those rules to minimize govt interference with their action.

Demonstrations in groups of 25 people or less may be held without a permit on Pennsylvania Avenue or other federal land subject to the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
cf. 36 C.F.R. Section(s) 7.96(g)(2)(i)
Based on this provision, the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that it is unlawful for the U.S. Govt to fine or arrest Inaugural protesters in groups of 25 or less on the asserted grounds that such protesters are demonstrating without a permit.

PROTEST TIP: ORGANIZE IN GROUPS OF 25
Unless you intend to challenge the 25 person limitation imposed by the National Park Service with the aid of an attorney, consider the following strategies:

PROTEST TIP: MAXIMIZE VISIBILITY WITH SIGNS AND PUPPETS
The Inauguration parade is distinctive because it moves along a public street, making it more difficult for the media to "black out" or crop out coverage of protesters located along that route. IMC Italia Napoli 3.15.01
Naples 3.15.2001
Because the Govt seeks to restrict your peaceable assembly along the Inauguration route to groups of 25 or fewer, it is essential that you counteract the limits on numerosity by maximizing the visibility of your message. Keep in mind, the message and lettering must be understandable to people across a city block, and visible and understandable to cameras that may be distant. The NPS regulations place restrictions on the size, construction and placement of portable signs and banners in certain areas only:
The regulations place no specific limitations on the size, construction or placement of portable signs and banners on Pennsylvania Avenue and the rest of the Inaugural route.
The only general limitation on the use of portable signs and banners is the "catch-all" rule that demonstration permits may be revoked on the spot, if the demonstration presents "a clear and present danger to the public safety, good order or health."
cf. 36 C.F.R. Section 7.96.
As above, the most restricted locations for portable signs and banners are for those located adjacent to the White House or in Lafayette Square. Even though such restrictions are not binding for the rest of the Inaugural route, they are presented below solely as an example of size and construction that are considered acceptable even in these most highly restricted areas: Goteborg guns 6.15.01 AP Photo/Pressens Bild Sam Lindh Hand carried signs are allowed regardless of size.
Signs that are not being hand carried are allowed provided they are no larger than 4 feet in width and one-quarter inch in thickness (exclusive of braces that are reasonably required to meet support and safety requirements and that are not used so as to form an enclosure of two (2) or more sides) may be used, provided
that no individual may have more than two such signs in the Park at any time,
and that all signs must be attended (be within three feet of the attendee) at all times.
Such signs may not be elevated so as to exceed 6 ft above the ground at their highest point,
and may not be arranged or combined in such a manner as to exceed these sign limitations.
J15
For example, two four-feet by four-feet signs may not be combined to create a sign that is eight feet long, and two or more signs of any size may not be leaned or otherwise placed together so as to form an enclosure of two or more sides.
cf. 36 C.F.R. §7.96(g)(5)(x)
No signs are allowed except those made of cardboard, posterboard or cloth
having dimensions no greater than three feet in width, twenty feet in length and one-quarter inch in thickness.
No supports are permitted except those made of wood
having cross sectional dimensions no greater than three-quarter of an inch by three-quarter of an inch.
Stationary signs shall be no closer than three feet from the White House sidewalk fence.
All signs must be in physical contact with a person at all times.
No signs may be attached to any structure on the sidewalk.
No signs shall be held, placed or set down on the center portion of the White House sidewalk,
  comprising ten yards on either side of the center point on the sidewalk,
  provided that individuals may demonstrate while carrying signs on that portion of the sidewalk
  if they continue to move along the sidewalk.
cf. 36 C.F.R. §7.96(g)(5)(viii)
If you are participating in the Inauguration in a group of 25 or less without a separately issued permit, you "are not allowed to erect temporary structures other than small lecterns or speakers' platforms."
36 C.F.R. 7.96(g)(5)(vii)(E)
Be aware that even small lecterns or speakers' platforms will likely attract the attention of hyper-aggressive "law enforcement" which may distract you from your primary purpose, to peaceably assemble to convey your political message to the public, the press, policymakers and the President.
The use of items "such as coffins, crates, crosses, theaters, cages, & statues; furniture & furnishings, such as desks, chairs, tables, bookcases, cabinets, platforms, podiums & lecterns; shelters, such as tents, boxes & other enclosures; wagons & carts;
and all other similar types of property which might tend to harm park resources, incl aesthetic interests"
are restricted in Lafayette Park and certain areas in the immediate vicinity of the White House.
cf. 36 C.F.R. 7.96(g)(5)(ix - x).
No such restrictions are stated in the regulations that apply outside of these areas, in particular along the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue. Puppets and visual displays are highly evocative and effective at conveying information. The Govt has in recent protests, including A16 and R2K, employed an unconstitutional law enforcement tactic we refer to as "Puppet Search and Destroy" in which "law enforcement" seizes and confiscates political puppets (and political literature) and, in some instances, destroys them. We suggest groups store their lawful puppet making materials and completed puppets in decentralized locations, to counter this unconstitutional police conduct. In the past, Metro has unlawfully selectively enforced rules to prevent protesters from reaching demonstration locations. Metro has, for example, previously issued restrictions on persons carrying protest signs and banners. Plan your transportation accordingly. Sound amplification is allowed, provided prior notice has been given to the National Park Service Regional Director, for example, by filing a permit application stating that sound amplification is intended to be used. Sound amplification may be restricted so that it will "not unreasonably disturb nonparticipating persons in, or in the vicinity of, the area." All interactions with law enforcement should be recorded on sound & video.
Your law enforcement liaison should be the primary point of communication with law enforcement, and should: PROTEST TIP: SEEK A PERMIT FROM THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
You do not require a permit to demonstrate at the Inauguration n groups of 25 or fewer, so why request a permit at all?
By filing a permit request you place the National Park Service n formal notice as to your intentions to lawfully exercise your First Amendment protected right to free speech. If you intend to use sound amplification you are required to notify the Park Service of that intention. If the National Park Service fails to reject or revoke your permit request, then your permit is deemed to be granted.
36 C.F.R. 7.96(g)(3)
All permit requests re deemed to be granted (subject to possible revocation in writing) f not denied within 24 hours of receipt by the Park Service. If the National Park Service rejects or revokes your permit, it must do so in writing which will provide you the basis to challenge the denial in court if you wish. If the National Park Service fails to reject or revoke your permit in writing, then your permit is granted.

Permit applications may be obtained at the
Office of Public Affairs, National Capital Region,
1100 Ohio Drive SW, Washington, D.C. 20242
A copy of the application is available in PDF format at the web page sponsored by the Partnership for Civil Justice, at
www.JusticeOnline.org/freespeech.
Permits are accepted by the Regional Director of the National Park Service between the hours of 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. weekdays, holidays excepted. Make sure your delivery is such that the date and time of receipt is known to you.

During the conduct of a demonstration, a permit may be revoked by the ranking U.S. Park Police supervisory official in charge only if:
  • continuation of the event presents a clear and present danger to the public safety, good order or health, or
  • for any violation of applicable law or regulation.
    cf. 36 C.F.R. Section 7.96
    		•  issued by
    Partnership for Civil Justice, Inc.
    civil & women's rights and economic justice public interest law firm.
    1901 Pennsylvania Ave NW suite 607, Wash.D.C. 20006   202.530.5630
    " … There are some instances when a law is just on its face but unjust in its application. I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now there is nothing wrong with an ordinance that requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly & peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust."
    4.16.63 Martin Luther King, Jr.
    letter from Birmingham city jail
    War protesters say they were bound for rally, but ended up in human traffic jam
    2.17.03   Shaila K. Dewan     NY Times

    Tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully Saturday, filling 23 blocks of official, fully permitted, rally-ready blocks on First Ave beginning near the UN HQ to protest a war against Iraq. But tens of thousands more never made it, thronging Second & Third Aves in what some described as a vain & baffling attempt to reach the protest that people had bundled up, ridden buses or skipped brunch to attend. Of about 15 would-be demonstrators interviewed yesterday across the city, only 3 said they had succeeded in reaching First Ave.
    The pedestrian traffic jam led to accusations yesterday that the police were unprepared, aggressive or even threatening, plunging through crowds on horseback or suddenly sealing off sidewalks. Organizers of the rally seized on those reports, saying that officers mistreated people that they took into custody and unnecessarily militarized the event.

    NYPD gave itself high marks, saying that the huge event had resulted in only 257 arrests on mostly minor charges, no major injuries and no formal complaints of police misconduct. The police estimated the crowd at 100,000, but organizers of the protest said it was more like 500,000. "For the number of people here, it was orderly," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Saturday. "The vast majority of people were cooperative."
    Conflict between the rally organizers & city officials began well before the rally itself, when the city denied a request for a permit to march. With the nation under a heightened terrorism alert, a judge agreed, and ruled that the demonstration would have to be stationary. Organizers stopped short of accusing the city of discouraging antiwar demonstrators as a favor to President Bush, though they admitted that the thought had crossed their minds. Mostly, they criticized what they saw as an oppressive approach to crowd control, noting that the police had even refused to allow portable toilets on the demonstration site, citing security concerns.

    "The only real problems of the day were created first and foremost by the fact that the police refused to give us a permit for the march," said United for Peace & Justice co-chair Leslie Cagan, umbrella group that planned the event. She offered her opinion that a moving demonstration would have improved the flow of traffic. Part of the confusion stemmed from the fact that the police moved the entrance to the rally northward as each block of First Ave filled, progressing from 51st St up to 74th St. The bulk of those arrested were people who ventured northward on Second or Third Ave, hoping to eventually turn eastward and reach the rally, Ms. Cagan said.

    NYPD spokesman was unable to provide exact arrest locations yesterday. Eric Goldhagen, a 36-year-old technology consultant, was walking up Third Ave shortly after noon between 56th & 57th Streets when he found his way blocked on all 4 sides by police officers or barricades, he said, calling the halt to pedestrian traffic "an intimidating show of force. I couldn't go north, couldn't go south, couldn't go east, couldn't go west" for about 45 minutes before the police allowed people to leave, he said. "It got to the point where we were all chest to back. Having not properly planned for the situation, the cops decided to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from attending a legal demonstration."

    NYPD chief spokesman Michael O'Looney denied that police blocked northbound traffic. Still, congestion was so bad that the police temporarily closed the 59th St Bridge and the subway station at Lexington Ave & 53rd St. There were reports that the police used pepper spray, but a spokesman said he could not confirm or deny them.
    Some demonstrators said the heavy police presence was distracting from the message of peace; others chafed at the tight security. "My friend had stayed up all night the night before, making a poster, and it was mounted on a little stick the size of a chopstick," said West Village massage therapist Ann Goldman. "The policeman made us break the stick and throw it away."

    Police officials acknowledged that with so many people, it was difficult to predict traffic flow. They said that of the arrests made, 5 were felony assaults on officers. One police horse took a punch in the face, they said. Organizers & officers agreed the protest had been peaceful. "The message still came through loud & clear about the broad communities of people that oppose the Bush administration's plan for war," Ms. Cagan said.

      Beijing curbs antiwar protests
      3.30.03   Willy Wo-Lap Lam CNN
    Hong Kong   Organizers of what would have been the first anti-foreign demonstration by Chinese citizens since 1999 are considering suing the govt for forcing them to abort a protest. The group had secured permission from the Beijing police on Friday to hold an antiwar protest in downtown Chaoyang Park on Sunday. However, organizers Li Ning & Tong Xiaoxi said they were told by police last Saturday that only 40 people, not 100 as planned, could take part. The duration also had to be cut from 5 hours to 40 minutes, with no speeches permitted, and the time was to be brought forward by one hour. Internet publicity was also not permitted.

    Li & Tong decided to call off the protest because, they said, "the original purpose for holding the demonstration, publicity & education, would be lost." In a statement issued Sunday, they said they reserved the right to sue the Beijing police for denying citizens their constitutional rights to hold peaceful demonstrations.
    On Sunday, police also stopped several students & intellectuals from unfurling antiwar banners in the Wangfujing commercial district. Authorities also denied permission to a group of antiwar activists in the elite Peking University from leaving their campus.

    The only demonstration allowed was a brief rally held by about 150 foreign nationals outside the U.S. embassy. The official media on Monday carried no word about the demonstrations. The Xinhua news agency ran a brief dispatch saying "cadres & masses in different parts of the country have expressed their support for the govt's stand on the Iraqi issue and they appeal for an end to the war."
    Han Deqiang, who initiated a petition on the web condemning the American "invasion" of Iraq, said he was puzzled by the govt's effort to stop the demonstrations. He & other activists said anti-war campaigns would continue to be held in the Internet.

    Nearly 3,000 people have signed the anti-war petition, with 500 having put down the names just over the weekend. A source close to the organizers of last Sunday's demonstration said the Beijing govt did not want to offend the U.S.and that it was fearful the protests would spread and get out of control.

    Rubber bullets used on war protesters in Oakland
    3.7.08     Reuters

    Oakland   Oakland police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 750 anti-war demonstrators on Monday in what was believed to be the first use of such force against U.S. protesters since the war on Iraq began. 30 people were arrested and about a dozen others suffered minor injuries as police fired rubber bullets & wood pellets into the crowd blocking access to a port area company they claimed was profiting from the war.
    Demonstrators charged that police overreacted but Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, former state governor, defended them. "Groups were coming to take over the port, all right, now that's not acceptable. … Police, in the line of fire there reacted in the best way they know how. You've got some pretty violent people there, those fellows who put on black masks and picked up big rocks. One guy took a slab of concrete and threw it at one of the officers,'' he told Reuters.

    Demonstrators gave different accounts: "I have been to many protests over the years, and I have never seen police resort to shooting people because they didn't like where they were standing,'' said Scott Fleming, 29, a lawyer hit several times in the back. "They had loaded guns and started charging.'' The action is believed to be the first police use of anti-crowd munitions against U.S. demonstrators since Pres. GWBush launched invasion at Iraq.
      [ No small coincidence this is also the first nationally reported incident of protest demonstration specifically directed at commerce attributable to GW2. ]

    The police action angered many in the crowd. "This was not professional, to say the least,'' said Joel Tena, constituent liaison for Oakland's vice mayor. "I was afraid for the safety of the protesters and concerned that a nonviolent protest had turned violent at the hands of police.''
    Susan Quinlan was hit with pellets twice in the back. "I never heard any warning to disperse. They pursued us and shot us as we walked away,'' she said.
    Leone Reinbold, a spokeswoman for Direct Action to Stop the War which organized the protest, said she saw a policeman run his motorcycle into one woman and another man get hit with a rubber bullet to the nose. "We weren't there to confront the police. We set up a peaceful picket line,'' she said. ``The worst injury was to the long, tried & true tradition in this country of picketing.''

    American President Lines spokesman Jerry Drelling, company that was object of the protest, said it has some govt contracts but declined to provide details. He said no one at the firm had been injured.
    At a separate demonstration, San Francisco police detained 20 protesters blocking the Federal Building. Anti-war activists resumed protests on Monday after a period of relative quiet. Police arrested more than 2,000 people in San Francisco in the first 2 days of the war.
    Also on Monday, NY police arrested 94 demonstrators at an anti-war action that blocked the entrance to the Manhattan building of Carlyle Group, $14 billion investment group that invests in the defense industry.

      TV headlines reported 250+ arrested at this event
      Court bans peace march in Manhattan
      2.11.03   Susan Saulny NY Times
    Antiwar demonstrators may not march past the United Nations complex on Saturday, or anywhere else in Manhattan, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Agreeing with the city that a large, moving rally of 100,000 people or more raised serious security risks, the judge said the organizers would have to settle for a stationary rally 5 blocks north of the complex.
    In refusing to grant a parade permit, the city did not violate the demonstrators' First Amendment rights, the judge, Barbara S. Jones of Federal District Court in Manhattan, wrote in her opinion rejecting their request for a preliminary injunction. She said that their free-speech rights were adequately protected by the city's counteroffer of a rally for 10,000 people at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, at 47th St, with overflow space as far north on First Ave as needed.

    Judge Jones said that the city had offered compelling reasons for not being able to guarantee the safety of marchers or of the UN complex, where all demonstrations & parades have been banned since 9.11.01. The judge noted that the city had presented evidence about 2 incidents: a failed plot to bomb NY landmarks, incl the UN, and the case of a gunman who scaled the front fence at the UN Oct. 2002 and fired pistol shots through upper windows to protest human rights violations in North Korea.

    Organizers of the umbrella group organizing the protest, United for Peace & Justice, began negotiating with the police dept about 3 weeks ago. They called the judge's decision an assault on their constitutional right to express opposition to a possible war with Iraq. NY Civil Liberties Union filed an immediate appeal yesterday with U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
    "We know we have a right to march so we will continue to fight for that right," said Leslie Cagan, 55, a co- chairwoman of United for Peace & Justice. Ms. Cagan said the group had specifically requested a march because it was more meaningful than a rally. Noting that SecState Powell had recently made a case for war to the UN, she said she wanted marchers to pass by the complex because it "is also a symbol for the possibility of intl cooperation, and that's what we want to be promoting."

    But Judge Jones gave great weight in her opinion to testimony from asst police chief Michael D. Esposito. He said that Ms. Cagan had not been able to give him a firm estimate of how many people would be attending the march, so he feared the dept could not provide sufficient security. He said a stationary rally, in contrast, could be adequately policed, even if crowds of 100,000 or more gathered.
    Judge Jones said that she was not willing to "second-guess" the chief's judgment, saying that "the court credits the city's assessment that the N.Y.P.D. could not responsibly plan security for a march of this magnitude with only the limited amount of information that the organizers have offered the N.Y.P.D. at this late point in the planning process."

    Jeffrey D. Friedlander, the city's assistant corporation counsel, said he was gratified by Judge Jones's decision. "We will continue to work with the organizers so their voices can be heard consistent with the First Amendment and the interests & safety of the city," he said. The city's counteroffer included the rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th St and First Ave, which is within view of the UN. An overflow crowd of any size could be accommodated in pens on First Avenue, the police said.
    Ms. Cagan said of that location: "If you're at all toward the back you can't see the U.N. We're trying to show a unified statement against this war. The proposal breaks us up." Police Dept contention that it could not maintain safety at a traditional, peaceful protest march was rejected yesterday by a number of First Amendment experts who found the court's decision a bad precedent.

    Victor A. Kovner, leading First Amendment lawyer & former corp. counsel under Mayor David N. Dinkins, said it marked a "low moment in New York's history. Large marches are being held in cities throughout the nation & the world," Mr. Kovner said, "and it is incomprehensible that the finest police dept in the world cannot accommodate a traditional peaceful protest. Given the wealth of precedents for peaceful marches, it is a highly disturbing precedent."
    Ms. Cagan & others who support the effort to march said the city's denial of a parade permit had nothing to do with safety. At a news conference yesterday, City Councilman Bill Perkins said: "This is meant to send a message beyond NYC and it is going to have a chilling effect nationally. I think the Bush administration does not like political dissent and has influenced the Bloomberg administration to stop it."

    Ms. Cagan said that the presence of 2 federal prosecutors at the hearing last week was a testament to that. The prosecutors, David Jones & Andrew O'Toole, asst U.S. attys based in Manhattan, appeared before Judge Jones to voice govt concerns about its treaty obligations to ensure access & safety at the UN.
    "We had no idea that they were going to weigh in on this," Ms. Cagan said. "We think this is part of something unfolding nationally, a serious curtailing of civil liberties throughout this country."

    Ms. Cagan & NY Civil Liberties Union exec. dir. Donna Lieberman noted that the city allowed cultural parades that attract just as many people as the protest march might. They cited the St. Patrick's Day Parade, which usually draws around 100,000 spectators. But Judge Jones found that these annual events involved months of planning, and that the police had substantial experience securing them.
    Chief Esposito said that Ms. Cagan's proposed march lacked a carefully planned & paced sequence, which would make it difficult to control crowd surges or other emergencies.

      Confrontation disrupts peaceful anti-war rally
      3.24.03   Joshua Robin Newsday
    A column of more than 125,000 anti-war marchers stretching nearly 2 miles filed down Broadway Saturday in call for peace that coincided with renewed bombings of Baghdad. Placid mood changed after the march's official end at Washington Square Park, with several hours of intermittent clashes between protesters & police enforcing the 4 p.m. time for dispersal.
    By late Saturday night, 91 people had been arrested, most on disorderly conduct charges. 16 police officers had been injured and were treated at hospitals, 11 after they were sprayed with pepper spray during one melee, although it was unclear who sprayed them.

    Despite arrests, the march was stark contrast to 2.15.03 anti-war demonstration on the East Side, near the UN. 5 weeks ago, demonstrators protested in numbing subfreezing temperatures under leaden skies; Saturday was a partly sunny 65-degree spring day. In the earlier so-called "stationary rally," police required tens of thousands of demonstrators to be penned within metal barricades stretching a mile up First Avenue; Saturday, participants walked 35 blocks from the so-called "Crossroads of the World" to a park long known as a locus of citizen protest.

    United for Peace & Justice, umbrella activist group that organized both demonstrations, estimated the crowd at more than 200,000. A police spokesman put the number at "in excess of 125,000." 2.15.03 rally was thought to have attracted about 300,000, incl protesters on Second & Third avenues.
    With some participants Saturday wearing shorts and singing '60s-era songs, it seemed a world away from Baghdad, which Saturday was attacked with dozens of missiles in the U.S.-led invasion. To keep informed, some people marching had their ears glued to portable radios to keep abreast of the latest developments from Iraq. "I am concerned so few people have any idea what war is about," said U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), a Korean War veteran who voted against war in Iraq.

    "I thought, 'Why should I even bother?' " asked Renee Belzile, 61, a teacher from Manhattan, wondering whether she should march. Her answer to herself, she said, was, "I think you have to live by your principle, perhaps even more so because the killing has started." Many protesters voiced anger not at Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but at President GWBush, whom some compared to Adolf Hitler & Osama bin Laden. At several points in the march, protesters chanted "Impeach Bush." One protester vowed other acts of civil disobedience until Bush leaves office.
    There were no reports of scuffles with authorities until after 4 p.m. On Washington Square West, witnesses said, officers used pepper spray to disperse a group of 10 individuals burning American flags. Witnesses said people not involved with the flag-burning were hit with the spray. Another group of black-clad protesters attacked at least one officer at Washington Square North and Fifth Avenue, shouting "Beat him up!"

    Sun Singleton, 29, a singer from Brooklyn, sat on Waverly Place in defiance of police orders to leave. She was not arrested. "This is the only way we can make a visual stand," Singleton said. Her action was more radical than most.
    Jonathan Charles, 8, a third-grader at PS 132 in Springfield Gardens, carried a red felt sign that said simply "Pray" and marched alongside classmates & their parents. "It's not good to, what's that big word?, assassinate someone," Jonathan said. "It's not good to make other people cry." He was surrounded by grown-ups who hoisted placards, with messages like "Bring Them Home" and "No War For Empire." Group chants included "Peace Now!" "Support Our Troops! Bring Them Home!" and "Vive La France!" a nod to Paris' opposition to the war.

    Along the way, the march disrupted traffic Saturday in midtown Manhattan and all but decimated Saturday business for shopkeepers along the parade route. "I have to pay rent, you know," said Harry Bhuber, owner of Ideal Worldwide jewelry store, who said he supported Bush. Marchers were unsure Saturday's rally would have any impact on hastening the end of the war, Saturday in its fourth day.
    Victor Goldin, 75, WWII veteran from Manhattan, marched with a blue hat that read "Vets for Peace in Vietnam." It's the same hat he wore the last time he felt his presence at a protest made a difference. "The protest marches in the '60s ended the war much earlier, saving thousands of lives," he said. "That's what we're trying to do."

    S27 map Police consider legal action in effort to disrupt protests
    9.21.02   Wash.Post
    Manny Fernandez, David Fahrenthold, S.S.Hsu, N.Irwin & L. Layton

    Law enforcement authorities are considering legal maneuvers against groups planning disruptive or violent demonstrations during next weekend's World Bank & IMF meetings, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said yesterday. Gainer, asked about the protests during a congressional hearing on the region's general emergency preparedness, said he & D.C. police had met with the U.S. atty's office and Justice Dept. to discuss protest plans that include trying to shut down the District, clog the Capital Beltway and vandalize stores & police cars. The major street protests are scheduled to begin Friday.
    S27 agenda
    Authorities had discussed whether such activities "are so deleterious to security efforts that we ought to take proactive action, whether there are violations of the law that are so potentially egregious that they outweigh the First Amendment rights of someone to come & speak with their life and shut down our intersections," Gainer said.

    U.S. attorney's office spokesman said the protests were discussed at a regular meeting with law enforcement, but he declined to say what subjects the meeting included and would not talk about Gainer's remarks. Protesters reacted with indignation to Gainer's remarks and said they would not be cowed. A statement issued yesterday by the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, the group calling for a shutdown of the city Friday, said police have been "spreading lies about the nature of the demonstrations and the actions planned. Thus far, the ACC has mainly been planning & publicizing marches on K St, bike rides, anti-war leafleting and theatrical production." The statement said accusations that the group is planning violence are "reckless & unfounded."

    District-based Partnership for Civil Justice atty Mara Verheyden-Hilliard dismissed Gainer's comments. She said her group & the National Lawyers Guild plan legal support for activists. "This is their standard demonization tactic," she said. "There has been no call for violence by any of the people in organizations who are coming to Washington to protest. The police dept is once again demonstrating their contempt for the constitutional rights of protesters in this city," she said. "Frankly, when they talk about preemptively shutting down protests and First Amendment speech, that is a hallmark of a police state and a repressive govt." She predicted "more & more people will take to the streets to oppose [President] Bush & [Atty Gen.] Ashcroft if they try to shut down protests in the city."

    After the hearing, Gainer said that no legal action had yet been taken against protesters and that the option would be further discussed next week. "I don't know why we have to wait until after they've inflicted damage," Gainer said after yesterday's hearing. Police officials have voiced concern for days about the protests, raising the possibility that they might serve as cover for terrorist activities, and some businesses are being urged to let their employees telecommute, although the mayor's office is urging people to go about their business as usual. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said commuters should stay off District roads, or expect to sit in traffic jams Friday.
    Demonstrators plan 5 days of marches, teach-ins, vigils and civil disobedience beginning Wednesday to protest the meetings of the World Bank and IMF at the institutions' Foggy Bottom headquarters next Saturday & Sunday. Ramsey & Gainer have said they are most concerned about a planned "People's Strike" on Friday and calls to shut down the city that day. The ACC is encouraging activists to block downtown intersections and Metro stops, slow down Beltway traffic, stay away from work or school, and protest at specific govt & corporate offices.

    Ramsey's concerns have led the Greater Washington Board of Trade to advise firms to let employees who cannot get to work by Metro to use phones & computers at home. A spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said people should still go to work but should take Metro. Law enforcement officials intend to establish a security perimeter and, although they have not said how large it will be, have indicated that it will take in the White House, the IMF & World Bank offices and surrounding blocks. Protesters target the World Bank & IMF as proponents of globalization, which they say leads to socially & environmentally destructive policies. But the protests are expected to include a variety of voices, from those against war with Iraq to pro-labor & pro-environment groups. Mobilization for Global Justice coalition of D.C.-based activists that helped organize demonstrations in Washington in April 2000, plans a downtown march Saturday.

    The number of participants expected is unclear in a protest movement known for leaderless coalitions and seat-of- the-pants planning. "We know that thousands of people are coming," said coalition organizer Patrick Reinsborough, 30. "Will it be 10,000? Will it be 20,000? We don't really know." Many demonstrations are permitted events that organizers say will be loud but peaceful. But Friday's action, protesters said, is intended to be disruptive. Nevertheless, "this isn't a plan to burn down the city," said Mike Wilson, 19, a Georgetown University sophomore and organizer for the Anti-Capitalist Convergence. "It's a plan to show that there a lot of people fed up with the way things are going."
    Organizers said they plan to have dozens of motorists drive at or below the speed limit on the Beltway on Friday to slow traffic. State police in VA && MD will have extra troopers on the Beltway. Metro Police Chief Polly Hanson said her officers are ready for any event in and around Metro stations. Metro plans regular service next weekend but expects that some Metrobus routes will be detoured.

    One Web site has particularly rankled police. It announces a "scavenger hunt," suggesting the awarding of points for radical tasks, such as occupying offices of a K St public relations firm, smashing a McDonald's restaurant window or puncturing a police car tire. Ramsey said, "Obviously, some of that stuff is outright criminal." But ACC members said they do not endorse the scavenger hunt or the Web site, run partly by an ACC founder who is not organizing with the group. It was unclear yesterday exactly what sort of legal action authorities could take against the Web site's owner or against others.
    ACLU local chapter legal dir. Arthur Spitzer said govt would have to meet a high burden of proof. One hurdle, he said, would be to convince a judge that the plans were certain to lead to serious mayhem.

    A business plan for protests
    D.C. firms closed Friday, others consider telecommuting
    9.23.02   Neil Irwin & David Fahrenthold Wash.Post pE1

    Businesses are bracing for protests late this week that police warn could disrupt commerce in much of downtown, so much that a local business group is advising firms to let employees telecommute Friday. … The result, judging from similar protests in April 2000, could be severe disruption for many of the companies & organizations with offices near the IMF & World Bank HQ, particularly in the event of pepper-spray-laced clashes with police. D.C. police officials said that roads into the District are likely to be clogged Friday, expected to be the day of the most intense protests. Security measures may make it difficult or impossible for some workers to get to their offices. Police are urging workers to carry business-issued ID cards, and for managers to reschedule deliveries. Authorities are urging commuters to use public transportation (Metro plans to run extra trains and buses Friday), but downtown traffic is still expected to be bad.
    "If you can avoid it, avoid it. If not, be patient," D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said.

    Regional chamber of commerce Greater Washington Board of Trade recommends that on Friday, companies experiment with letting employees work from home, at least for those employees who cannot get to work via Metro. "None of us would want to see on a regular basis a mere threat leading to a lot of people not coming downtown," said group's president Robert A. Peck. "But from the business side, we have to respect the police chief's call that this threat is credible enough to say you may have trouble getting to work in a car."
    Peck argues that greater use of teleworking, even if workers only use it one or two days a week, might help alleviate the region's traffic woes and make businesses better prepared to operate in a weather disaster or terrorist attack. Indeed, the maker of the software package GoToMyPC, which lets people use their office computers remotely through the Internet, is offering free trials for companies that might be affected, and Communique Conferencing Inc. will give Washington businesses 300 minutes of free conference-calling Friday so workers at home can collaborate.

    CarrAmerica, a real estate company on K St NW 3 blocks north of the IMF & World Bank offices, said it will follow the advice to a degree. It has been experimenting with people working from home, said managing dir. Robert Milkovich, and this may be a good time for a test-run since it could be hard for workers to get to work. Other businesses in the blocks around the IMF & World Bank HQ that do not have the option of letting employees work from home are expecting a more severe impact.
    Tony Boudouvas, who owns Tony's Place, flower & convenience store on I St around the corner from the IMF, stayed open during the demonstrations in April 2000. He sold lots of soda & water to protesters, and even a few flowers. But he was not taking any chances this time, and he plans to shut down. "I've had surgery recently, and I just don't want to get in the middle of all that. I'll just stay home," Boudouvas said. "What really scares me is some of the bad people, the terrorists might try to do something."

    Paul Lee, owner of Penn Grill & Cafe at 20th & Pennsylvania, said he is fairly sympathetic to the views of the anti-globalization protesters, but may close on Friday anyway, worried about potential violence. "Their slogan is not bad, but I worry about robbery & theft," he said. It certainly will not help that many of the office workers who normally eat lunch in his deli will not be there. "Last time, people sat down here in front of the store blocking the door," said Grace Ahn, of D.C. Dry Cleaners on Pennsylvania Ave. "I only pray there are no problems. My customers work over at the World Bank & IMF."

    Luxury hotel goes commando
    Marriott Wardman took bunker approach for IMF mtg
    9.30.02   Dana Hedgpeth Wash.Post pE1

    At the construction site that will eventually be the IMF building at 1900 Pennsylvania Ave., now a big hole in the ground, workers plan to stay away on Friday, said Wrecking Corp. of America Benny Stevens, which is doing excavation work on the site. Some businesses that could close, though, are trying not to. Cassidy & Pinkard is a real estate service firm at the corner of Pennsylvania Av NW & 20th St, a block away from the IMF.
    "We're hoping it's not going to be too bad," President Robert M. Pinkard said. "We're going to have lunch for everyone in the office, so they don't have to go out once they get here, and we've made everyone aware of what to expect once they come in. We figure if people are informed, they'll plan accordingly." But they are also experimenting with letting people work from home to save time spent in traffic. "We just want to make sure people are able to work," Pinkard said.

    At sundown last Thursday, the security guards at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel escorted out the last stragglers from a PricewaterhouseCoopers meeting that had been held at the Woodley Park hotel. After a few whispers into their shirt sleeves, the 36-member internal security team locked the doors, put up "no trespassing" signs and roped off entrances.
    They set about turning the District's largest hotel into an armed camp. Every one of the 600 guests arriving for the weekend's World Bank & IMF annual meetings would have to come in through metal detectors and have private blue-vested guards hand-search each of their bags. 4 uniformed D.C. police officers and 2 private security guards would lead guests through the lobby to the hotel's front desk.

    "Unless you have official business with the World Bank or are a cop, you're not getting in," said Derrick Lockhart, head of Marriott Wardman's security team. Managers of the Marriott Wardman allowed a reporter to be on hand Thursday & Friday while the massive hotel prepared for the meetings on the condition that the story be published after the meetings ended yesterday. Marriott Wardman's preparations, security drills, hundreds of thousands spent on technology & manpower, the stress on employees & managers, show what extensive and sometimes bizarre precautions hotels take to do business during meetings here.

    No mail or deliveries came in from Friday until today because the hotel had ordered vendors not to come. Half of the hotel's 1,400 rooms were empty, as the entire place was reserved for bankers, delegates and 100 of the hotel's top managers from the housekeeping, security, food and front desk depts. The hotel staff stayed in case protesters were to block off the District and hourly workers couldn't get in. Deep in the bowels of the hotel, inside a huge exhibit hall normally reserved for black-tie parties and dinners, 80 D.C. police officers waited in secret in their "bunker," as the hotel executives called it, ready to stream out in the event unruly protesters or any other threat confronted the hotel and its guests.

    Motorcycles & bicycles lined the walls inside the hall. Twin beds laid side by side in a blue, curtained-off area for those needing to catch a nap during the 12-hour shifts. At the loading dock that backs right to a ramp into the exhibit hall sat 4 unmarked vans full of riot sticks, pads and face masks.
    It was a plan that hotel managers and D.C. police had agreed to months before the bank's Sept. meetings after counterintelligence on the protesters found that the Wardman Park property would likely be a target because it was housing most of the delegates. If protesters did block off D.C. streets downtown, closer to the bank's headquarters, there would be a platoon of officers north of the area to help with emergencies.

    No real threat ended up emerging at the hotel over the weekend. But the planning & the drills, incl one on how to get rid of a muskrat gas bomb, a particularly foul-smelling type of stink bomb, were part of the transformation of a normally bustling business & tourist hotel into a high-security, restricted zone.
    The last time the bankers came to the District for their full agenda of events, in 2000, Marriott Wardman was the headquarters for World Bank & IMF meetings. The bankers, staff and delegates had most of their meetings at the hotel's 100,000sf meeting space and slept there. "It's the only place that can hold us," said one of the World Bank organizers.

    For the hotel and the District's tourism industry, World Bank & IMF meetings are a healthy piece of business because they bring in big spenders. Hoteliers & restaurateurs in the District lost potential business in Sept. last year when the bank canceled its meetings at the last minute after the terrorist attacks. The meetings were eventually held in Washington in December, but in abbreviated form.

    This past weekend, the D.C. tourism industry was expected to make about $7 million from the World Bank & IMF meetings in revenue from hotel rooms, taxicabs, restaurants and shopping, per Wash. Convention & Tourism Corp. pres. & CEO Wm Hanbury.

      A day of tightly controlled chaos
      D.C. police stick close to protesters, reach for handcuffs at first sight of trouble
      9.28.02   Monte Reel Wash.Post pB1
    The 75 activists on a bicycle tour of Washington got a view of the morning rush hour that was dominated by the white-helmeted police officers riding beside them. And behind them. And in front of them.
    This rolling caravan wasn't the high-minded traffic obstruction that these anti-capitalists had jumped at the chance to join. Over their handlebars, they saw more law officers than activists and watched the oil-powered vehicles they had hoped to inconvenience roll alongside them with little reason for pause. As they pedaled from Union Station to Logan Circle, from Dupont Circle to Chinatown, the cyclists encountered scattered clusters of fellow demonstrators and waved.
    "The People's Strike is happening," said Adam Eidinger, an activist pedaling in the middle of the pack. "You have to look for it. But it's happening." That was the story of the day: The tiny pockets of chaos that erupted from time to time didn't last long, as police reached for plastic handcuffs whenever they saw trouble.

    A few blocks beyond the perimeter of the cyclists' route, at K St & Vermont Ave NW, about 40 activists were escorted onto Metro buses after a couple of rocks crashed through the windows of a Citibank branch. At 14th St & Independence Ave SW, 21 people were arrested for lying in the street. The riders would soon witness the largest round of arrests of the day, whether they wanted to or not. After steering from Pennsylvania Ave onto 15th St NW about 9:10 a.m., they encountered a wall of police that wasn't going to budge. Quickly, the wall collapsed on the riders and moved them into Pershing Park.
    The ring of officers around the park constricted, forcing the bicyclists to commingle with a couple of hundred other demonstrators who had been corralled there. The activists weren't allowed to leave. By noon, everyone on site had been arrested, and the last of the abandoned bicycles was being loaded onto a police truck. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey watched as the protesters were handcuffed and placed on Metro buses to be taken to a cellblock at D.C. Superior Court or the police academy in SW Washington.

    "The intent of this group is to shut down all D.C.," Ramsey said. If set free, "they leave here and go someplace else and do something else." Ramsey had been on the streets since 6 a.m., shuttling from one reported outbreak of commotion to another, taking the hard line from the outset. "We've got two arrested and about six that are fighting," an asst chief told Ramsey when he got to 14th and K streets NW, near the site of the Citibank scrum. "That's all right," Ramsey told him. "We've got enough people to fight."
    About 1,100 officers were on the streets or ready to get there quickly, and they were easily able to outnumber protesters whenever they felt the need. But other than the rocks thrown at the Citibank and a few reports of heaved street furniture, violence was rare, aggressions controlled. The only logged injury was a 19-year-old with a bloodied nose, who was treated and released at George Washington Univ. Hospital after reportedly being hit by a police baton. Ramsey's strategy was to arrest anyone he believed was trying to disrupt the city, charging protesters with misdemeanors such as "incommoding."

    The approach left little wiggle room for most activists and the many others who ventured too close to them. Bruce Friedman, making his regular bicycle commute from Arlington to downtown, happened to pedal by Pershing Park when police decided to encircle everyone in the area. He and others with no intention of speaking against capitalism, journalists, joggers, tourists, pleaded their cases. It took Friedman about 10 minutes to persuade police to let him out. His Justice Dept identification card did the trick. "I just think it's ridiculous to pack the park with unsuspecting people," said Friedman, 42, a lawyer in the dept's civil rights division. "They were creating a tense situation when they didn't have to."

    Ramsey had been saying this week that he believed Washington might be esp. vulnerable if terrorists took advantage of a chaotic city. "Ain't it a thing of beauty," he said, looking at the line of officers around the park, "to see our folks up there ready to go." By midafternoon, when police began to lose patience with a group of protesters at the Gap in Georgetown, both sides were ready to negotiate. The protesters, who say the family that owns the clothing chain has wantonly cut down acres of forest and employs sweatshop labor, wheeled a giant redwood stump in front of the store and began outlining their grievances. But the grievances couldn't be heard very well over the noise of a police helicopter hovering overhead. The officers on the ground were losing patience with those standing on the stump and told them they would be arrested, like the hundreds before them, if they didn't clear the sidewalk.
    So the protesters offered them a deal: If the helicopter cleared out, they'd do the same within 20 minutes. Police accepted. The Gap protesters, unlike most of the others who hit the streets yesterday, choreographed their outrage. They stripped to their underwear in front of the store, just as others had at previous Gap protests across the country. They'd rather wear nothing, the battle cry went, than clothes from the Gap. Upholding their end of the bargain, the protesters left without incident, and no arrests were made.

    The evening rush hour was quiet. Downtown office workers, those who had decided to go into work, anyway, were able to travel home with few obstacles. About 5 p.m., Ramsey listened as Mayor Anthony A. Williams praised the police work. And some of the 650 or so who had been arrested were being released, in time for a weekend of more protests and more police, ready to go.

      Taken for a ride
      Police turn the bike strike into a tour de force
      9.28.02   David Montgomery Wash.Post pC1
    The anti-capitalist "Bike Strike" got off to a late start early yesterday morning because, it was whispered, the guy who knew the secret route had a flat. Bummer. So there on the soggy plaza outside Union Station, the Radical Biker Cheerleaders, a popular posse of raucous rhymesters with bad attitudes, stalled for time. "Only when I'm biking do I feel this free-hee," they sang in a parody of Madonna. Then they rapped about politics: "Every vote counts, except yours and yours and yours."
    Media members, who nearly outnumbered the bikers as dawn broke slimy & gray, also killed time, interviewing the bikers, interviewing their colleagues, interviewing themselves. Commuters in suits & American flag pins picked their way around the bikers & the reporters, scrupulously avoiding eye contact, as though not wanting to encourage crazy people.

    The D.C. police had bikes, too. You could tell that the D.C. police bikers thought this whole scene was a hoot. They straddled their two-wheelers across the street, watching, smiling sometimes. They could afford to be patient. The route may have been "secret," but the police had a pretty good idea how this adventure was going to end anyway. Everyone else was in for a surprise. "On your bikes!" said one of the bike strikers. The flat must have been fixed. They took off as one, like a school of guppies. The police followed close behind.
    As the 75 protest bikers, the 40 police bikers and the 20 police motorcyclists cruised up N. Capitol St, there was time to wonder: A component of yesterday's "People's Strike" demonstration, the Bike Strike was conceived by organizers to focus on the evils of big oil, car culture, pollution, city congestion. Bikes are a response to all of the above. Messages to that effect were stenciled on flags waving from the rear of the two-wheelers. The Strike also was supposed to contribute to the larger aim of yesterday's demonstrations, "shutting down" the city, by slowing traffic as the riders meandered through the streets.

    But spectacle looked like something else, a kind Tour de D.C. Not to get French about it, but the peleton, or pack, had two equipes , or teams, identifiable by their uniforms. Team Police wore synthetic fibers of royal & navy blue and rode smart white bikes. Team Anti-Capitalist wore natural fibers of faded blue and green, astride contraptions that had seen better days. "They're sucking wind," a police biker chortled. But it wasn't a race, really. It was more like a ceremonial romp at easy pedaling speed. Nor was it particularly disruptive. The police stopped traffic for the protesters, and the pack passed quickly enough that cars weren't kept waiting long.
    The police bikers formed columns on both sides of the protest bikers, escorting the Bike Strike on its merry way to its secret destination. Although the bikers did not have a permit for a mass ride, the police did not tell them to break it up. Instead, police bikers politely made way when more protest bikers wanted to join. Elsewhere in the city, tires were burning, windows were breaking, pepper gas was spraying.

    David Roberts, an out-of-work videographer from Boston, said he could have joined some of the other protests, but "I really, really like bikes. I'd rather ride my bike in the city." As the riders continued up North Capitol to K St NW, a bystander on the sidewalk asked, "What are you biking for?"
    "We're riding against tyranny," said Jenifer Deal, a Washington actress who this spring won a Helen Hayes Award for outstanding lead actress in "The Muckle Man" at Source Theatre. Later, she elaborated: "I believe the internal combustion engine is a dinosaur," she said. "How better to illustrate that than by riding my bike that keeps me fit, doesn't pollute and helps me contact my fellow creatures? Any time people take to the streets to raise their voices for change, it is effective."
    One day of short-term inconvenience is all right to raise awareness about long-term problems, she said.

    "Bomb Iraq!" yelled a man standing in the doorway of a paint store on K Street NW.
    "What a bunch of idiots," said another man on the sidewalk. Yet others cheered the bike strikers. Whatever anybody else said, the looping ride through Shaw, Dupont Circle and downtown seemed to have the most energizing effect on the riders themselves. It was liberating to ride through the streets without cars in the way for a change, thanks to the helpful police escort.
    The police themselves, an elite crew chosen for their fitness and love of bikes, seemed to get a charge out of the 80-minute ride, too. They didn't say much, but they appeared content. "Look at you on your bikes!" exclaimed one of the radical cheerleaders to her escorts as they crossed town on P Street NW. "You know it's a superior mode of transportation." If the Bike Strike accomplished nothing else, it did prove the transcendence of the humble two- wheeler. Someone should coin an advertising slogan: "Recommended by four out of five police depts & protest cells."

    At last the group reached Pennsylvania Ave NW. The secret destination was Freedom Plaza at 14th St, where a rally was planned, but the plaza was blocked by officers on foot. Instead, Team Police funneled Team Anti- Capitalist onto Pershing Park at 15th St & Pennsylvania Ave. A horde of non-biking protesters already in the park warmly greeted the bikers, who locked their cycles to trees amp; poles. They gravitated to an impromptu drum circle to dance & chill and be interviewed by more reporters.
    Suddenly Team Police formed a human wall around Pershing Park. The biker police were joined by horse-riding police and walking-in-black-body-armor police. Nobody could leave the park. The police marched into the park in long rows, using batons to herd demonstrators into a smaller & smaller space. Soon it was standing-room-only for the bike strikers & their comrades, on a small sliver of the west end of the park.

    The police were silent, but it dawned on the strikers that they were about to go to jail. The charges would be parading without a permit or failure to obey an officer. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey later said the mass arrests were justified because of the mayhem committed by some protesters and the intent of everyone to shut down the city. "It's a travesty," Deal said, as the police closed in. "When I asked what I was being detained for, I got no answer. But when I tried to leave, I got shoved back into the park."
    The bikers shared their sense of betrayal with other protesters who had arrived on foot. "I am flabbergasted," said Joe Mayer, an attorney wearing a pinstriped suit & tie. He is a retired Army lt colonel with 20 years in the service who had been walking to Freedom Plaza to protest war plans when police told him to go to Pershing Park. "I never imagined in my worst imaginings that my govt would do this to me."

    Most professional media members were allowed out. Jason Flanagan & Debra Kahn, reporters with Univ. of MD newspaper the Diamondback, were not so lucky. They had been reporting on the experiences of a group of protesting classmates. They gave their notebooks to a Wash.Post reporter to take out with him so the outside world would know what happened. The bikers & the rest of the demonstrators were restrained in white plastic cuffs then loaded onto Metro buses.
    Team Police went through the park with bolt cutters, slicing the locks on the bikes of Team Anti-Capitalist. The bikes were tagged and stacked in the back of a big white truck then taken away. The bike strikers would reach their final destination by internal combustion engine.

    U.S. Army 32nd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard", stationed at Ft Myers, Arlington VA (across Potomac river, 10 minute walk to Lincoln monument). The President's own, responsible for safeguarding nation's capital in times of civil disorder or insurrection
    9.27.02 Wash.D.C. "We needed this event to show that you can't shut down one of the major economies of the city," Hanbury said.

    Since 9.11.01 & Seattle 1999, increasing security has become a "necessary cost of doing business," said Marriott Wardman general manager Ed Rudzinski. At his property, Rudzinski said, security costs more than double for high-profile events like the World Bank & IMF meetings. He installed additional cameras for the lobby, hallways, rooftops and parking garage, and bought pepper spray, gas masks, locks and special cleaners for stink bombs. He hired more than two dozen professional security guards and paid overtime to some of his own staff of guards.

    Across the District, hotels spent $3 million to $5 million for such equipt, according to hospitality managers. Some of the costs for tighter security measures do get passed on to the group using the hotel, but most of it is absorbed by the property, managers said. "It's what you have to do now to market yourself," Rudzinski said.
    Making the Marriott Wardman a commando post took work and some practice. Rudzinski called a meeting Tuesday of some of his top managers to brief them. He & his top security team had reviewed their entrances & exits, escape plans, and even how the hotel would operate should people be forced to stay inside for days. "I want to make sure nobody does anything stupid," Rudzinski said, as he talked in the exhibit hall that was to become the cops' bunker.
    Hands went up with questions.
    Is the gym open? How will my trainer get in if the parking is limited? And speaking of parking, where will I be able to put my car?If you want us to stay at the hotel Thursday night, can our spouses stay, too?
    Rudzinski or his staff had thought of most everything and answered. "Sure, the gym is open, and there will be parking for employees," he said. "Yes, you can have your spouse stay the night. No, no expense reports will be accepted from Murphy's," he said of the nearby Irish pub favored among some staff members. There would be no deliveries Friday. No mail. No fresh bread. The hotel's French chef shook his head in disgust.

    With 24 hours to go until Friday's protests, Marriott Wardman's security team set up tables & chairs, and charts & maps of the interior & exterior of the hotel in a storage room typically used to hold luggage. It became the "War Room." Lockhart & his 2 assistants met Thursday with 3 top D.C. police officers from Dist. 2 to go over the plans. With a pointer, he showed the hotel aerial view from a large photo and stuck red, yellow, blue & green stickers on blueprint-like maps of the hotel's interior to show where security would be posted.
    Lockhart's workers, the "loss prevention" unit at Marriott, were labeled green dots. Red dots equaled D.C. police. Yellow dots went to the outside, contracted security guards, and blue was the Coast Guard, if needed. The hotel had experienced a graffiti incident the night before. Someone had painted with red lipstick "Drop the debt" and "Fight for the poor, not the rich!" in a stall in a woman's restroom. It was a reminder, Lockhart warned, to be vigilant and watch for anyone suspicious, basically any passersby who were not in uniforms or business suits.

    Lockhart ran through his last-minute checklist, incl the last item: make sure the Bobcat mini-bulldozer was ready to go so that if a load of manure were dumped in the hotel's front drive it could be easily removed. More ominously, a list of all of the guests & employees working on Friday would be printed then taken to the Arlington Marriott, just in case. That lesson came from the Marriott World Trade Center in NY, destroyed when the twin towers collapsed after they were hit by planes.
    Lockhart decided Thursday afternoon to start putting his team through drills. In Exhibit Hall C, next to the space where the commando unit of D.C. police passed their time by watching golf & cop videos, doing paperwork, and playing card games, Lockhart called in his "rapid response team." He handed the 4 men gas masks and showed them how to adjust the plastic around their noses & mouths. "Okay, guys. Scoop & score, just like football," said Marriott's asst security dir. Shawn Maltby.

    The radio crackled as Lockhart said: "A strange substance has been thrown into the hotel lobby and is emitting an odd smell. All units please respond." Jeff Mena & partner Gene Kelly raced toward the "strange substance", a plastic water bottle,threw their 10-gallon trash can over it, and slid a lid on top.
    "Secured, sir," Kelly said as he removed his $172 gas mask from his face and turned to his boss. Maltby nodded and gave him a thumbs up. The radio crackled again as the dispatcher in the security office made a report, this time, no drill. "A housekeeper says a guest is causing a disturbance," the dispatcher called. 4 security officers and their 3 supervisors raced through the room's double doors and took the escalator two at a time, through the lobby and to the elevator. "It's Room 4206," the dispatcher called. The elevator was too slow, so the security guards took the stairs. Lockhart flung open the door to the fourth floor and ran down the hallway to the room. No maid & no guest. Just an empty hallway.

    The dispatcher called it again. He was mistaken. He had transposed the numbers. Red-faced, some of the guards headed toward the new location. A nervous housekeeper stood outside the door and told Maltby the guest was now inside his room. A few moments later, Maltby radioed his colleagues.
    "False alarm. A European guest was frustrated after his room key didn't fit," Maltby said. He was actually at the wrong room. "That's enough practice," Maltby said. "Over."

    WEST PALM BEACH, FL   A free concert of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven is being played 24 hours a day on a blighted street corner, not to enlighten the masses but to reduce crime. Police say drug deals, shootings and thefts have dropped since the department mounted a set of speakers and a CD player on an abandoned building and started playing the music in April. There also aren't as many loiterers, who used to number up to 200 on weekend nights on the residential corner in Rosemary Village near downtown. The music, sort of a ``greatest hits'' compilation of the three composers' melodies from three CDs that are played in constant rotation, can be heard clearly up to a block away.
    "Our main concern was, were we going to disturb some people with the noise,'' said West Palm Beach Assistant Police Chief Bob Van Reeth, who heads the community response division. But resident Mamie Durham doesn't mind, and the neighborhood has improved. Her home is a block south of the speakers at Seventh Street and Tamarind Ave and she can hear the music at night when the streets are quiet. "If someone ever told me Tamarind would look like this I wouldn't believe them,'' said Durham, 80, a 60-year resident of the neighborhood. "I remember when you used to have to walk in the street because (loiterers would) be on the sidewalk. It's cleaned up.''

    Businesses have played music for years, choosing selections to attract a specific clientele or even to keep teen- agers from hanging out. But it wasn't until recently that police used the approach to keep troublemakers away from an area. The troubled corner has been a problem for 15 years and police occasionally increased patrols in the area for weeks at a time. Police Chief Ric Bradshaw demanded a permanent solution after a murder in the area in March. 2 Pennsylvania men took a wrong turn and one was fatally shot. Sgt. Ron Ghianda had learned at a seminar about music being used for nuisance abatement in Texas, and he and Sgt. Patrick Flannery decided to give it a try. They spent less than $500 for a CD player and speakers. The department also installed better lighting and cut down trees that provided shade in the daytime.
    "It's not practical to have a cop sitting there all day long,'' Ghianda said. "So what do you do? How do you change the scope of the neighborhood?'' Police chose classical music because they believed it would drive away people who didn't appreciate it and relax others enough that they would keep out of trouble. West Palm Beach police don't know of any other Florida law enforcement agency playing music to deter crime, but several businesses and police in Fort Pierce and Delray Beach have called the department for information. Recent statistics indicate crime is down on the corner. Drug-related calls dropped to four from February through June, compared to 20 during the same period in 2000, according to the police department. Calls for service were down to 83 from 119 last year during those five months.
    Durham and others might like the music, but not everyone shares their opinion. The music was silenced for three weeks when vandals pulled out the speaker wires and used a sledgehammer to smash the electricity meter on the side of the building.


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