Preceded by chants, cheers, banners and break dancers, over
1,000 protesters took to the streets of Westwood to voice their
displeasure with the policies of President Bush on the day he was
sworn into office.
Bathed in the golden glow of streetlights on a warm January
night, protesters from different backgrounds and of all ages
rallied beside the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard before
marching down Westwood Boulevard.
Many of those present at the protest cited the war in Iraq,
Bush’s spending policies and the direction of U.S. foreign
policy as reasons for their attendance.
On a day when much media attention was focused on the
inauguration of President Bush, James Lafferty, executive director
of the National Lawyers Guild chapter in Los Angeles, called the
protest the “inauguration of our determined, growing and
unstoppable anti-war movement.”
Protest organizers put the number of people at the march at
about 5,000. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department at the
event said the number was probably between 1,200 and 1,500.
Signs held by protesters ranged from the concise (“Exile
Bush”) to the ominous (“The draft is coming …
goodbye”). One group of protesters held a long banner that
they said listed every casualty from the war in Iraq up through
November.
Before the march, protesters flooded all four corners of the
intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue. They beat
drums, honked horns, waved flags and chanted anti-war and anti-Bush
slogans for almost two hours, and many passing cars honked in a
show of support.
Members of the UCLA community were out in force at the protest.
Kent Wong, the director of the UCLA Labor Center, gave a fiery
speech to the crowd before the march, calling the president
“King George II” to a loud ovation from the
protesters.
Wong said there was a strong connection between the policies of
the Bush administration and the problems facing the labor movement
in the United States.
“We have many students out here tonight, we have many
labor unions out here tonight, we have a lot of people who see the
connection between what is happening locally and what is happening
internationally,” he said.
And Nancy Sanchez, a fourth-year history and women’s
studies student, said she was at the protest “to let the
“˜president,’ (in quotation marks) know that there are
thousands of people who are against his policies and dirty
politics.”
Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran and author of “Born on the
Fourth of July,” also gave a speech during the rally.
Though much of the protesters’ frustration was directed at
Bush and his administration, at times speakers made it a point to
say it was the war and the general state of affairs in the United
States that angered them, not just the president.
“Even if John Kerry was voted president, he was still in
favor of the war, and we would still be out here protesting,”
said Adrian Garcia of the International Action Center.
The rally and march took place under the watchful eye of 160
police officers. Officers on bikes and on foot escorted the
marchers through Westwood, and officers in riot gear and mounted on
horses were visible during part of the march.
At least two helicopters buzzed over the rally. One would
periodically swoop low and shine a spotlight on the protesters to
cheers from the crowd.
There were no overt confrontations between protesters and law
enforcement officers. The Federal Protective Service, which was
responsible for guarding the Federal Building, did arrest at least
one man. FPS officers declined to comment on the arrest, referring
questions to the Department of Homeland Security in San
Francisco.
By 10 p.m., all but the diehard protesters had dispersed. About
50 people remained outside the Federal Building to solicit honks
from passing cars, with some success.
Demonstrators in Washington D.C. waving signs that said
“Worst President Ever” and “the American
Nightmare” jeered the president’s motorcade during the
inaugural parade Thursday morning.
The procession of cars sped up as President Bush neared the
designated location for protesters on Pennsylvania Ave. Two rows of
police lined the street in front of the main protest site. Officers
stationed atop buildings along the route kept close watch on the
crowd.
Boos rained down from the crowd and some demonstrators shouted,
“˜”˜No justice, no peace.” In some places in
the protest area, the crowd was about six rows deep.
Some of their chants could be heard as Bush neared the end of
his inaugural address. The president continued speaking without
interruption and there was no sign that he heard them.
With reports from Bruin wire services.