(EIf e JJnrtla nò (Observer
Page B8
April 02, 2003
War & Politics
Public Poll:
Are downtown
Portland anti-war
protests worthwhile
or an unnecessary
inconvenience and
cost to the city?
Shel'Meka
Newman, Fed Ex
Courier
"There is freedom
o f speech in
America hut these
people need to get
out the Book o f
Revelations and
realize this war
was a long time
coming. "
Danielle
Hampton, Student
"It's good that
protesters are
down there hut the
signs don't say the
right thing. They
should say, ‘The
war is stupid, hut
we support our
troops. ’ ”
Dee Smith,
Retired
"I think most
people who are
protesting just
don 7 have any­
thing else to do. "
J
Marlon Jackson,
Caregiver
"Theseprotests, I
don t like them.
There should he
love and peace fo r
everyone. "
How Much is Too Much?
continued
fro m F ro n t
stoically, some w aving peace signs
in the direction o f the incom ing
cops.
“ The p o lice sh o u ld n 't be at­
tacking them ," M a rsh a ll said.
Police made repeated w arnings
then m oved m ech an ically fo r­
ward.
"B a ck . B ack . B a c k ." they re­
peated in unison , taking ground
from the protesters.
"P e a c e fu l protest. P e a ce fu l
protest," dem onstrators chanted.
Some s till held peace sig n s as
the shielded and b ato n -w ield in g
o ffice rs m oved forw ard.
Protesters on the perip heral
and those standing w ere pushed
back, som e w ith deft ja b s from
the baton.
A s the retreating m ass o f p ro ­
testo rs fle d a c ro s s B u rn s id e
Street, som e o ffice rs used bursts
o f pepper spray to break up c lu s ­
ters o f dem onstrators.
The con fro ntation coo led but
w as far from o v e r as p o lic e at the
in te rse ctio n d ealt w ith in te r­
locked protesters one by one,
p u llin g them from the cro w d and
zip -ty in g their hands before load­
ing them into the p o lice w agon.
That protest w as ju s t the be­
g in n in g o f a serie s o f actions that
have been c lo se ly m onitored by
Portland P o lice sin ce the start o f
the war.
B rian Schm autz, p u b lic in fo r­
m ation o ffic e r for the Portland
P o lice said the response is in a c­
cordance w ith operation plans
that seek to keep dow ntow n safe
and accessible.
‘W e s a id a ll along o u r m ission
is to keep Portland safe and the
s tre e ts o p e n to e v e r y o n e ,"
Schm autz said.
Portland Pol ice have made over
160 arrests at the dow ntow n r a l­
lies. M ost protestors, Schm autz
said, w ere cited for d iso rd e rly
conduct.
A nother m arch last .Tuesday
departed from Pioneer Square at
noon w ith protestors determ ined
to fo llo w the law to the tee, m o v ­
ing in p a ra lle l groups on d o w n ­
town sid ew alk s.
Intern M in iste r B rent W as, o f
the First U nitarian C h u rch ,jo in e d
the protest fo r most o f the after­
noon as it snaked through d o w n ­
town fo llo w e d c lo se ly by dozens
o f rio t-clad co p s and o ffice rs on
bike.
W e 're m aking a lot o f bad
d e cisio n s that w ill have co n se ­
quences for u s ," W as said o f US
foreig n p o lic y , as he m oved from
b lo ck to b lo ck w ith as m any as a
hundred other protestors.
A form er M a rin e C o rp o ffice r.
W as s till has frien d s in the arm ed
forces.
I know a lot o f people there.
A nd I ’ m scared for them ," he said.
W as said the church does not
have an o ffic ia l p osition on the
w ar but he added that C h ris tia n ­
ity reco g nizes the inherent w orth
and d ig n ity o f a ll people.
W ar is in h eren tly con trad ict­
ing to that," he said.
Despite the heavy p o lice p res­
ence and the cost o f ad d itional
p o lice patrols. W as plans to keep
m arching in h is flo w in g w hite
cassock.
I'm sad. I'm scared, and I'm
getting a n g ry ," he said.
I
My daughter
is doing the job
she s supposed
to do. I 'm
proud o f her.
-Lin dsey Jackson, fatherof Celeste
Jackson who was deployed to Kuwait
months ago
? / don’t want to see these
kids get heat up. The police
shouldn't he attacking them.
-A ld o n a L. Marshall, a woman who found herself caugh
t between protesters and a wall of Rapid Response Officers
A protestor (left) is arrested during an anti-war protest
Tuesday afternoon downtown. Gulf War veteran Sean
Lewis (below center) demonstrated with over a thousand
protestors at Terry Schrunk Plaza downtown the day after
the bombing of Baghdad began.
photos by D avid P i . echi ,/T he
✓
con tinu ed
Lindsey Jackson, center, is pictured with
daughters Celeste, left, and Dannielle in a
1996 family portrait. Jackson said he is
proud that his daughter Celeste is fighting
the war in Iraq.
P ortland O bserver
from Fro n t
Saddam needs to go. I think w e're doing the
right thing."
Jackson said Hussein has a track record
as a repressi ve and somet i mes bruta I leader.
"People here in the United States have
never lived underathreatlikethat,"hcsaid.
“ W e 're doing what we have to do."
With a daughter thousands o f mi les away
at war, Jackson takes the Portland protests
on the home front in stride. I le champions the
right to free speech, but detests flag burn­
ing. He supports protesters right to demon­
strate so long as their actions are neither
disruptive nor dangerous.
"W h e n you start to im pede other
people’ s lives or endanger others, you
don't get any sympathy from m e." he said.
Jackson believes the straightforward
approach o f the U S m ilitary plan to unseat
Saddam is the right one
" I believe he has weapons o f mass
destruction," he said. "T h e y want to get
A
him out o f there, and hopefully get some­
one in there that's better.”
Although he supports the war, Jackson
thinks U S Generals may have surged into
the conflict over optim istically.
He said the Am erican public should
expect an entrenched conflict that could
last longer than most expected.
"T h e loss o f life w ill happen. It's going
to be long. It's not going to be a short one,"
he said. “ W hen you're going to go fight a
war. you don't presume anything.”