Inaugural Dispatches, Page 2

From staff reports

Saturday, January 20, 2001


Continued From Page 1

The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com have more than 50 reporters throughout Washington reporting on the inauguration.

Annie Gowen, 12:30 p.m., 14th Street NW:
The biggest disruption so far this Inauguration Day occurred about noontime as an impromptu march up 14th Street NW from Freedom Plaza by the Black Box Anarchists turned raucous. The anarchists, known from the World Bank protests, were clad in their trademark black hooded sweatshirts and bandannas and waved their black flags.

They pushed over police barricades at 14th and F streets. The anarchists led about 100 demonstrators east on F Street and north of 13th Street chanting, “We Want Anarchy.” Small groups of anarchists occasionally paused to commit acts of vandalism. A band of three disguised protesters threw a brick at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center on L Street. Demonstrators pulled a construction fence across 15th Street to block traffic. They tugged down street signs on 16th Street and pulled newspaper boxes to block L Street.

“George Bush stands for everything I oppose politically. I’m skeptical of everything about the way his election came about,” said social worker Katie Matis, 22, from New York City. She was standing in front of The Washington Post building as her fellow protesters chanted, “[Expletive] Corporate Media.”

But the demonstration began to grow heated when the protesters began a standoff with police on 14th Street between K and L streets.

One protester was clubbed in the head by police and sat bleeding in the alleyway. “It was one of those batons, those extendable batons,” said Matt Even, 24, a District resident.

Medics placed a large white bandage on his bleeding forehead.

Police set up barricades and at one point corralled about 60 demonstrators against an office building wall. Two protesters were detained, and the corralled protesters were freed. The demonstration was contained within the block.

“I can’t get out,” said Rita Smith, the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “All I was doing was trying to walk the parade route with my friends. I am being illegally imprisoned within these two blocks right now.”

But tempers cooled and the police allowed the marchers to move east toward the Capitol.

David Montgomery, 12:15 p.m., Freedom Plaza:
Several hundred demonstrators have moved into the bleachers at Freedom Plaza, despite not having tickets, causing consternation by members of the inaugural committee.

There are also reports of massive congestion at the checkpoints at 13th and 14th streets NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, where officers are making parade-goers move single-file through the checkpoint.

Mike Snyder, 12:20 p.m., 14th and K streets NW:
Two protesters have been detained, a police officer said.

Protesters at 14th and K streets NW were pushing against a solid line of police officers, in an effort to reach the street where the parade would be traveling.

One protester climbed a streetlight and was waving a small American flag, which he then burned, causing the crowd to become noisier. A police officer was handed the charred remains of several other small flags.

A park police helicopter hovered overhead.

David Fallis, 12:10 p.m., 8th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW:
Shortly after noon, it was announced along the parade route that Bush had taken the oath of office.

Some people in the previously relatively quiet crowd began chanting “Hail to the Thief.”

David Montgomery, noon, Freedom Plaza:
Protesters have spilled out from Freedom Plaza and are filling the block from 13th to 14th Streets, NW along Pennsylvania directly in front of the D.C. reviewing stand, virtually guaranteeing that President Bush will see them.

Matthew Mosk, 11:40 a.m. Dupont Circle:
Deidre E. Newton stood in the jostling crowd as she waited for her turn to speak at the voter rights protest in Dupont Circle.

The West Palm Beach, Fla., real estate broker traveled on a three-day bus trip from Florida to express her outrage over the election count.

“I just wanted to be around people who were angry like me,” she said. “You can’t just accept it and lay down and die.”

On the stage, a succession of activists kept a crowd of thousands cheering and chanting in a cold mist.

Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women, called out the names of states to loud cheers from an audience of protesters that included contingents from Georgia, California, Florida, New York and New Jersey.

“They’re going to hear our voices not only today but for the next four years,” Ireland said. “I am counting on you to continue making a demand for equality and justice.”

A man wearing a giant black grim reaper puppet strolled the perimeter of Dupont Circle, carrying a tombstone marking the date of the election. Crowds chanted and waved signs. At 11 a.m., Doris Haddock took her turn at the microphone.

Haddock, a 91-year-old grandmother from Dublin, N.H., was instantly recognizable to many as the crusading “Granny D,” who walked cross country to arouse passion for campaign finance reform.

Wearing her trademark straw hat, orange vest, and white New Balance sneakers, she gave a gravelly 20-minute oration to an eager audience. “I am old enough to have seen one-third of our nation’s history," she said. “There have always been enough raw deals to keep us toasty warm with outrage. . . . The issue here is not the theft of an election but the theft of democracy.”

A voice in the crowd shouted “You go girl,” and others chanted “Go, Granny, Go” as she likened corporate campaign donations to bribery.

Her son, Jim Haddock, 65, looked on admiringly. “She’s asking people to step forward,” he said,“helping her down the steps from the stage—to step forward for what is right.”

Christina Pino-Marina, 11:40 a.m., 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
At about 10:30, a group of about 35 members of the Black Panthers, Howard University students and supporters reached the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, where hundreds of other protesters converged near police checkpoints. They held signs critical of Bush and attorney general-nominee John D. Ashcroft, such as "Bush=Racism" and "End the Racist Death Penalty."

Police allowed protesters past the metal barricades and checked individual bags for weapons and other destructive devices.

About noon, the bleachers that were set up along Pennsylvania Avenue were virtually empty at Freedom Plaza, but the protesters made sure their signs could be seen when George W. Bush passed by after his swearing-in.

In contrast to the masses of people on the street, onlookers in hotel rooms at the Willard Intercontinental peeked out of windows, snapping pictures from rooms where partially drawn curtains revealed chandeliers and American flags.

Despite the mist and drizzle, protesters' spirits seemed high. Even those not affiliated with the Black Panthers joined in when an organizer chanted through a megaphone, "We ain't scared of nothing. Freedom or death."

Khali Ashanti, chief of staff of the D.C. chapter of the Black Panthers, said, "The election was unfair. Nobody likes Bush, and we're here to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Ashanti said that she and others were protesting what she called a confusing ballot in Florida, which led to problems at the polls and the disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida.

Mike Snyder, 11:35 a.m., 14th and K streets NW:
There is a standoff at 14th and K streets NW between police and protesters.

The rally started in Dupont Circle and dozens of protesters headed toward the White House. A very strong police presence at 14th and K streets halted the march.

There has been no violence at this point, but at least one police officer is wearing partial riot gear. Protesters are chanting "Whose streets? Our streets," "Hail to the Thief" and "Let us go."

Police are letting some people through, but it's unclear if it's only media or if everyone will get to pass.

Carol Leonnig, 11:30 a.m., 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW:
From about 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., tensions were mounting at the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. As protesters were getting their points across, they inadvertently surrounded a group of 75 middle school students from Chesterfield, Va.

“You’re brainwashing your children,” chanted several activists.

Teacher Anne Canite, who has brought students to the District to witness history for the last six inaugurations, drew the applause of her students when she hollered back at protesters: “You don’t know what democracy is.”

The protesters continued filling in around the students and shouting through the megaphone: “Bush says death row, we say hell no!”

Within about 20 minutes, Canite and the chaperones decided they needed to move the kids to the other end of the block.

Canite said: “I just wanted to teach all the kids about history and I wanted them to think that protesters have a right to free speech, but this is just crazy.”

Nurith Aizenman, 11:30 a.m., Third Street and Constitution Avenue NW
For an hour and a half, the 50-plus protesters of Moral Majority waited in a cold drizzle before the checkpoint at Third Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Finally the line began to move forward. Exuberant, the group launched into its own version of the Vietnam-era anthem, "Give Peace A Chance."

“All we are saying,” they sang, “is count every vote.” A policeman, motioning for the group to stick to the sidewalk, sang back to them, “All we are saying, is move it along.”

Steven Ginsburg, 11:15 a.m., Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW:
His American Legion hat perched proudly on his hat, Phil Carpenter said he hasn’t had any interest in the government since Vietnam. Today he stands in the front of a crowd of protesters on the corner of Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue making a stand against what he calls "the little sniveling weasel who stole the election." He adorned an American flag with anti-Bush phrases such as "throw the SOB out" and hung it upside-down from the rope separating him from a wall of policemen.

Next to Carpenter stood Owen MacLeod, another protester, who said he was here to "mess up the parade." Earler, MacLeod said, a young Republican "walked up, gave us the finger and told us we were un-American. I told him he was a bunch of Republican trash and should go someplace else," MacLeod said.

And he did.

Serge Kovaleski, 11:15 a.m., Freedom Plaza:
Throughout the morning, throngs of protesters hoisting colorful and acerbic placards braved the raw damp weather to assemble around Freedom Plaza to demonstrate against the Bush presidency and his position on a wide range of domestic and international issues. In what was a constant cacophony of sounds that boomed through downtown’s concrete canyons, some protesters used bullhorns to denounce Bush while others beat plastic buckets with drumsticks to give the gathering a kind of energy and momentum.

Issues on their minds today were myriad, including the death penalty, racism, sexism, the economy and the U.S. government’s multibillion-dollar effort to staunch the cultivation and trafficking of drugs in Colombia. One common theme among the demonstrators was the belief that Bush was unfairly given the presidency in a recount process that was highly suspect.

“Bush was selected by big corporations and special interests and not elected by the people. This is a government that will work for big corporations, and as a working-class person I feel we have to vigorously fight against this man,” said Oscar Ovalles, 40, a truck driver from Queens, N.Y.

Standing nearby, Rachel Orenstein, 17, a high school student from Ithaca, N.Y., who was wearing a T-shirt with "No Death Penalty" emblazoned on it, said, “I disagree with Bush on everything you can name, things like the death penalty, the environment, education, abortion, military and human rights.”

As the day went on, the streets around Freedom Plaza became a sprawling collage of protest placards. Some were unabashedly mocking of Bush, one of them reading, "What Do I Do Now, Daddy?" while another which had two photos of Bush and Cheney said, “You Should Be Very Afraid. You Should Be Very Afraid.” Other placards addressed the issue of what many critics have decried as the disenfranchisement of black voters during the presidential election. One poster said, “Free Black Voters in Florida Now.”

Jacqueline Salmon, 11:10 a.m., 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW:
A few steps away from the noisy demonstration at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, all was calm at the Willard International Hotel.

As the protesters shouted and screamed with occasional profanities, doormen at the Willard calmly rolled out a red carpet and swept it off. Jason Vines stepped out of the Willard with his wife to watch the action.

“I think it’s wonderful,” he said. “This is America. Everyone gets a voice,” he laughed. “This is a little more profane than I had expected.”

Linda Wheeler, 11:05 a.m., 14th and G streets NW
Two 20-somethings wearing blue jeans and parkas, their blond curls showing under baseball caps, were talking to each other.

“Last words from my mother: ‘Don’t let me see you on TV.'”

“Yeah, mine too. Only she said; ‘I don’t want to hear you are in jail,'” the two laughed together.

Leef Smith, 11 a.m., Dupont Circle:

“Everyone on the bus was Republican but us, and they sang the whole way,” Ruth Werner said. “But we believe our voices will be heard, even if it only means that Bush won’t be reelected” Jenny Werner added, her short hair streaked in blue and red. “We were robbed.”

By 10 a.m., Dupont Circle was awash in floppy drizzle-soaked placards, the flash of disposable cameras and the sharp aroma of magic marker. The colorful signs ranged from the political—‘Resist W’— to the profane. Throughout the morning, hundreds of protesters arrived crushing the traffic circle in costumes and rain ponchos. For the most part, protesters listened attentively to speakers but took time to videotape and photograph one another. “Did George W. Bush win this election?“ prompted one of dozens of speakers.

“No!” roared the crowd.

“Are we going to accept this?“

“No!” they responded.

Jenny Werner, 18, and her mother Ruth, 39, arrived in D.C. at 6:30 this morning after a 14-hour Greyhound road trip from Detroit. A first-time voter in November, Jenny decided early on she would travel to the inauguration either to cheer Gore or to protest Bush.

Neely Tucker, 10:30 a.m., Stanton Park:
Three stories below, as a tape of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech played to a wet crowd in Stanton Park, the Rev. Al Sharpton paced back and forth in a church office, firing off radio interviews and preparing a speech to counter Bush’s inaugural address.

“We’re kicking off a season of resistance today,” said Sharpton, between radio chats and posing for group photos with co-workers gathered in an upstairs office of the Imani Temple. “When George W. Bush takes his oath of office, we will too—to protect our constitutional and civil rights, the right to vote, the rights an earlier generation of civil rights workers won for us.”

Sharpton’s cell phone rang again. A radio station in New York? Or was it New Hampshire?

“Excuse me,” Sharpton said, turning to the phone interview.

Sharpton’s organization, The National Action Network based in New York, led several predominantly black activist organizations in holding one of the main protests scheduled for today, a “shadow inauguration” at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Center for Constitutional Rights, both formed in the civil rights movement in the Deep South of the 1960s, and the D.C.-based National Black Leadership Roundtable, also orchestrated the protest.

Sharpton’s group is filing or supporting lawsuits in Florida and elsewhere protesting the disenfranchisement of black voters in the presidential election, and much of yesterday’s rally was designed to drum up support for those suits.

Sharpton hangs up, rotating between interviews.

He said he was disappointed but not surprised the Democratic Party was not taking a role in yesterday’s rally, or the forthcoming lawsuits.

“They weren’t there in Selma, they’re not here in Stanton Park,” he said with a smile. “What’s new?”

Leslie Flint, 10:30 a.m., Dupont Circle:
Singing caribou, pilgrims and sign-carrying protesters gathered in Dupont Circle this morning.

By 9:30 a.m., hundreds of people joined together to protest issues ranging from the environment and oil drilling in Alaska to the Florida votes and minority rights.

About 50 Palm Beach County residents rode the "Freedom Ride" bus to protest at today's festivities. Deidre Newton, an elected official, set up a table to the left of the stage where she handed out stickers and buttons with the phrase "Buck Fush."

Members from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge donned caribou costumes and voiced their protest through song.

Alice Copeland Brown, a 62-year-old grandmother, was dressed as a Mayflower pilgrim, representing her deceased relatives' dislike for how their country has turned out. On her back, she taped a poster that linked her lineage to George W. Bush.

The protest gained focus when speakers began taking the stage and shouting slogans to rally the diverse crowd. A running theme among the protesters was that Bush would not be acknowledged as president. Signs read "Bush Cheated" and "Pirate President."

One protester, who gave his name as Joe Friendly, traveled from New York and brought with him a bucket of paint and paper. He hand-painted signs at the protesters' request, including the words "bogus," "fraud" and "yuk."

Justin Blum, 10:20 a.m., 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue:
The science students from Yale University gathered on the corner of 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue—their eyes fixed on a platoon of Maryland State Police standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the street.

After several minutes of debate over who would do the deed, Julia Powell, 22, and Carl Shephard, 21, stepped forward. They both carried signs urging violence against lesbians and gays be stopped.

“Red rover, red rover, send the state police over!” they yelled in unison.

The state police didn’t flinch.

I had hoped to crack some smiles, Powell said.

She took off her backpack and revealed to the police a taped message on her back: “Dance Ashcroft, Dance.”

Still no smiles.

Christina Pino-Marina, 10:10 a.m., 14th and U Streets NW:
Under steady drizzle at 14th and U streets NW, about 40 Black Panthers and Howard University students headed down the street, raising their fists in the air, shouting slogans decrying President-elect George W. Bush. Four Black Panthers, dressed in black with helmets, tall shin guards and gas masks, stood out in the crowd.

Malik Shabazz, a Black Panther organizer from Washington, shouted slogans through a megaphone including, "To hell with Bush. Bush is a racist." Meanwhile, a line of protestors carried signs that read "Black Power, Black Unity" and signs directed at Bush depicting the president-elect with devil horns reading, "Bush is a devil."

The Black Panthers complained that D.C. police did not assist them by directing traffic at the site where they had been granted a permit to march.

"The police didn't help us out. We think it's sabotage, so we took things in our own hands," Shabazz said. After protestors directed traffic from a crosswalk for about an hour, they began to march down 14th Street NW to Pershing Park at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, where a rally is expected to continue.

Brandi Brown, an 18-year-old Howard University student from Long Island, N.Y., and a member of the Black Panthers, said she was disappointed by the turnout but not deterred.

"I expected these streets to be filled. But that's okay. I'm here to educate people. We all know that Bush stole the election. We need to band together. He's going to cut education and Medicaid and support programs that hurt black people. We gotta fight this."

Victoria Benning, 10 a.m., along the parade route:
By about 9:30 a.m., several dozen spectators had already staked out choice spots at the beginning of the parade route at Fourth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Among them were several high school students from around the country here with the Close-up Foundation, a nonprofit organization that organizes student trips to Washington. Georgia McBride and Danielle Cook both of Houston didn’t support Bush, but said they came because they wanted to be a part of history. “I’m not a Bush supporter but it’s kind of cool,” said Danielle, 18, from her seat on the wet curb. “It’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing.”

Nearby another group of Close-up students, these from Los Angeles, held up protest signs reading “Hail to the Thief” and “The People Have Spoken, All Five of Them,” a reference to the Supreme Court justices.

Senior April Graham, 17, said she was having a good time but, “It would be better if it were a different president.” Her friend Kristin Ratleff, 17, was dressed in four layers of clothes, but already her toes and fingers were beginning to sting from the cold. “I wouldn’t mind the cold if I was out here for Gore.”

Bill Broadway, 10 a.m. St. John’s Episcopal Church
At 9:20 a.m., the motorcade arrived at St. John’s Church on Lafayette Square for a private worship service. Laura Bush stood out in a bright teal topcoat amid a blur of black and navy as the entourage entered the front doors of the historic Episcopal church.

About 100 people attended the 40-minute service for the Bush and Cheney families and friends. The media were not allowed inside.

The Rev. Luis Leon, rector, led a service of prayer for the president and “all in civil authority,” according to a program. The Rev. Mark Craig, pastor of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, where the Bushes are members, preached on the the gifts of knowledge and order that come with trusting the Lord, parish secretary Graham Beard said as he left the service.

“The choir was beautiful, the music soared, it all went quite well,” Beard said enthusiastically. “What more can I say?” He added with a laugh: “I voted for Gore!”

Danylo Berko, North Pentagon parking lot, 9:45 a.m.:
Buses carrying marchers in today's inaugural parade started arriving in the North Pentagon parking lots about 7:30 this morning, creeping in with the sunrise.

"The marchers are arriving by bus, getting off and going through [metal detectors]," said Naval Reserve Lt. Bill Anderson, spokesman for the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. "Then the buses go to a lot, where we have bomb-sniffing dogs. Then the marchers get back on the bus and drive over here."

The parade participants were rehearsing and giving interviews at the staging area before they were to proceed to the start of the parade at the National Mall.

"The buses will cross the 14th Street Bridge and park on either side of the Mall between Seventh and 13th streets. That is also a secure area, where we can also get the groups in order. If something happens, the script changes, a bus breaks down, it'll be easy to move the groups up." Anderson said.

Things were going pretty smoothly, Anderson said. By 9 a.m., the arrivals were about 30 to 45 minutes behind schedule.

"I'm one of the few people here who organized the last inauguration," Anderson said, "and the emphasis on security is much higher this year."

Despite the cold and drizzle, participants were upbeat. "It's great. I'm really excited," Bill Kellett of the Papillion-LaVista Marching Band from Papillion, Neb.

"It's an incredible chance to celebrate this day as a nation, to show the world civilian control of the military," Anderson said.


© 2001 WPNI