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Snowy Prospect Heated With Protests |
Current rating: 0 |
by John Fettig
Email: jfettig (at) ameritech (dot) net (unverified!) |
15 Feb 2003
Modified: 10:01:18 PM |
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Despite the drifting snow and chilling winds, the weekly protest on north Prospect in Champaign was heated up by the hatred which burns in the hearts of their opponents. |
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Perhaps it was caused by the stresses of driving in arctic conditions. Or perhaps it was the lighter traffic load on north Prospect which allowed people to take their minds off of the road and focus on the protestors. Or maybe it was just the heightened fears that war is just around the corner, and yet the protestors (as evidenced in New York, London, Rome, and worldwide) just won't go away. But something was eating at opponents to the anti-war movement, as aggression towards protestors was at a raised level this week.
There were varying estimates on the number of protestors who braved the snowy conditions. Although one would expect numbers to be down due to the snowy conditions, there were between 70 and 120 protestors.
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There was the usual displays of middle fingers and shouts of various names, and as usual the protestors responded with things like "We love you," and "You're right, we are number 1!" But unfortunately there were a couple of incidents which marred the protest.
One of the incidents was instigated by the driver of a red GMC Jimmy. As he was approaching the middle of the protestor pack, he made a swerve towards the curb to intimidate the protestors. One of the protestors, holding a "Who would Jesus bomb?" sign on a stick, held out his sign as the driver approached. It is unclear exactly what happened next, but it appears that the sign was pushed by a gust of wind and tapped the windshield of the aggressive Jimmy.
Needless to say, this set the driver off. He threw his truck into park and jumped out, despite the pleas of his passenger (girlfriend?). He shouted "did you just hit my car?", but despite the display of panic by the driver the protestor remained calm and collected. Then he proceeded to walk up to the protestor, and continuing his shouting, shoved the protestor with both hands. The protestor did not respond, thankfully. The other protestors, witnessing the entire incident, quickly memorized his license plate (out loud). This caused the driver to realize he could not get a reaction, and he returned to his car.
As he was pulling away, I snapped this picture:
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[To the protestor who was battered: I do not mean to provoke anything, so I have blurred the plate number. If you wish to prosecute, please contact me and I'll send you the unblurred photo.]
There was also an incident down at the Tire Plus, which is a reminder that it is important to not park in their lot as they are not sympathetic and will do what they can to harass the protestors.
Hopefully the protestors will match this increase in agression with an increase in non-violent protest. It is vital to the movement that the protests remain incident free from the aspect of reactions to opponents. The responses of "We love you" are very appropriate, and show the maturity of the protestors in contrast to the unbridled hatred of their opponents. This is symbolic of the aggression which they protest.
--peace |
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Re: Snowy Prospect Heated With Protests |
by Peace Observer
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
15 Feb 2003
Modified: 11:48:14 PM |
Hats off to the brave souls who kept on protesting against so many odds (bad weather and edgy opponents). And kudos to John Fettig for reporting on all this!
I just read elsewhere that today's peace demonstration in London drew 750, 000 protesters (the biggest ever in London) and that the one in Berlin was the largest since WWII. May our political leaders and foreign policy planners take a note of these numbers as well as the determination, commitment, and dedication, of our brave protesters on Prospect Street in Champaign.
Peace Observer |
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Re: Snowy Prospect Heated With Protests |
by Paul
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
16 Feb 2003
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Yesterday I was listening to the police scanner when a call went out that a motorist had called in a complaint that protestors were "jumping into the street" in between cars and in between lights. I wonder if this call was related to the angry guy in the Jimmy?
A few minutes later a police unit responded that there were no problems, the protestors weren't jamming traffic, and that any backups were due to weather and the usual clogged traffic on Saturdays.
I'm pleased to know that the protestors are able to keep their cool in such heated circumstances. Standing firm but peacefully in the face of such aggression demonstrates the foolishness and futility that can be a part of violence. Not getting pushed back only proved to the Jimmy driver that he was the unprovoked agressor, not the victim. |
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Re: Snowy Prospect Heated With Protests |
by Ricky Baldwin
baldwinricky (nospam) yahoo.com (verified) |
Current rating: 0
16 Feb 2003
Modified: 02:04:53 PM |
To everyone who was there, you are my heroes! One correction, though: there were over 170 protesters (I know, I signed them in). And one addition: several protesters also crossed the median to push start a car that had gotten stuck climbing the slick hill, and this was shown in Channel 15's report at 10pm.
I agree that it is very important, and will become increasingly important as pre-war tensions rise, to keep our cool and try to diffuse potential confrontations with angry folks. I know no one wants to contribute to an accident or an act of violence that could get someone hurt (maybe someone standing next to you). |
