The noisy, obnoxious media helicopters started hovering over the Civic Center neighborhood around noon...
...on Saturday, March 18th, when a march protesting the third anniversary of the Iraq Invasion was set to take place.
The starting and ending point for the march was at Civic Center Plaza in front of City Hall, which was being fortified against intruders by a small army of police and sheriffs deputies.
Also in front of City Hall was a small contingent protesting the protestors.
They were waving Israeli flags...
...and U.S. flags while singing an out-of-tune rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Anyone supporting the murderous regimes currently in charge of Israel and the United States is probably delusional at this moment in history...
...so the large antiwar crowd simply ignored the lunatics, which seemed the most civilized thing to do.
Though the marching crowd couldn't have been sweeter...
...or more playfully charming...
...the police response was grotesque, with hundreds of them lined along the march route, scowling...
...along with dozens of paddy wagons and buses parked near the Civic Center to haul away citizens protesting their government's criminal behavior.
The parade route was interesting, starting up Larkin Street...
...and then turning down Eddy Street...
...through the heart of the Tenderloin downtown.
There was even a Green candidate for Senator with a whole host of Greenies marching behind his little pickup truck.
One of the best moments along the route was in front of the Hilton Hotel where striking hotel workers....
...were cheering and being cheered by the peace marchers walking by.
As the march neared the Powell Street shopping district, the police presence grew even more pronounced.
Property must be protected at all costs, including bankrupting the taxpayers with massive amounts of overtime.
Since we had walked the length of the march from the back to the front by this time, it seemed like a good time to pop into the Mac Store at Stockton and Market to play with the latest machines while waiting for the crowd to catch up.
I stuck to the Civic Center while you marched. Good for you! I usually can only stand one or the other at these events.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the guy in the Senate candidate picture is, I think, Peter Camejo (Green candidate for Governor in the 2003 recall among many other things) not Todd.