The Richmond Bush Protest: Liveblogging, Reflections, Photos, and Links

Note: I went back and cleaned up some of the verbiage and formatting on this post, and added reflections from the next day. The "At the protest" section is me on my XV6700 typing in observations on the fly. Since rain was threatening I kept the blogging to a minimum.

Please digg this story!

At the protest

Photos

Other impressions

It was a pretty good turnout for the capital of a red state, although we do have an art school here. Like some wierd cross between a Phish lot and a hipster convention. I didn't come with a sign, which sucked because I had to hold this little one that just said "Time for a Change".

Broad St. was closed down about 4:30 PM in anticipation of the Prez. Plastic fencing had been erected ahead of time, but officers lined up along the street to, well, I'm not sure what they were afraid of. I don't consider it a very strong democracy when elected officials need to intimidate the people and hide them. Speaking of hiding, they lined busses up along the other side of Broad so that nobody in the Museum would have to endure our sight. And as the Prez left, they even positioned Richmond Police SUVs so that the view would be obstructed (so I went further down the street to catch them).

There was a small group of war/Bush supporters, about half a dozen, with big American flags. It was a bit pathetic. The cops initially tried to stand between us and them, but realizing we weren't posing a threat, they eventually ceded the territory.

I made sure the police knew I wasn't happy with them. I yelled several times about my dismay with the police state. But even I wasn't prepared for when the Prez arrived; these guys in fatigues carrying automatic rifles stood along the busses facing us - again, as if the electorate is the enemy! They were pretty smug about it, but the crowd seemed to accept it so I didn't make a big deal out of it. It's hard being a sole voice in those things.

Many of the protesters there were trying to raise awareness of the recent damage to Battery Park, which resulted in some school closings. In fact, one thing that kind of wierded me out was how a whole host of issues, from jobs to education to gay rights, were being wrapped up in what I thought was an anti-war, anti-Bush protest. I guess Allen's presence made it more locally significant than that. But surely the war was the big focus.

There were some fruities (one white lady invoked the "N" word on the loudspeaker to the dismay of everybody, though she meant no harm) but overall things were calm. In fact, I could have stood a bit more agitation, but the collective dynamics of those things are wierd. Only one guy really broke ranks and charged out with a sign into Broad. The cops turned him back but returned his sign.

All in all, a good experience, though I wish I hadn't been alone, or at least that I hadn't arrived so early. I'll post some pictures when I get my phone sync working with my computer.

Links

Here are some links to other sources of information about the protest... hoping I can find other bloggers in Richmond who are antiwar. The VAWN announcement mobilized a good protest, but I hope in the future we can coordinate better, perhaps by expanding online collaboration.

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Written on Friday, October 20, 2006