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Parent Article: 3/20 - Campustown Erupts In Protest |
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More Photos |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
17 Apr 2003
Modified: 05:42:37 PM |
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Picture #1
That afternoon, the crowds were moving along, with people coming and going all the time. Here's another picture from John Fettig, in which the crowd looks like it's obviously higher than your estimate. There are lots more pictures from John at this link so people can make up there own minds:
http://salty.ncsa.uiuc.edu/gallery/dayofwar
Not everyone marched from the Quad, but it was a lot more than the maximum of 130 that you suggest.
Picture #2 and #3
Here's another picture of the scene where the MTD bus was turned back on Green St. Looks like the visible crowd in the street is a little closer to your estimate from what can be seen, but there were also lots of people who marched along and didn't get in the street.
I have a feeling from your comments that in your mind protestors equal those in the street who equal lawbreakers (they weren't, as people, as well as cars, have a right to the public right-of-way and no one was arrested) and anybody who you didn't immediately consider to be a lawbreaker didn't count as a protestor. Both at the Quad event and at the West Side Park event there were far more than a "number somewhere between 120 and 130." The march connected the two events, but obviosulynot everyone attended both or used the match to get from one to the other.
Here's a link to pictures from the West Side Park vigil and another iteration of the march, which by this time, many hours later, had dwindled to approximately the numbers you mentioned:
http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/10462/index.php
I get the feeling that police intelligence is a lot like military intelligence: it exaggerates or underestimates the opposition according to the desired public relations message it wants to send at particular times to suit its needs, just as you have done here. I'll bet the next time your department has to justify buying some riot shields and tear gas, the number of protestors you are quoting to us today will balloon to closer to the upper estimate of crowd size mentioned here with something like, "there were a thousand of them that day and we really need this gear in case it happens again..." as a justification to fulfill your desire.
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