War, protests march on

by Clay Holtzman and Jeff Proctor

Daily Lobo

The last week has not only seen a flurry of activity among U.S. soldiers overseas, but also among community members who are protesting the ongoing war in Iraq.

Since the war began Wednesday, and for a long time before it started, there have been community-wide protests in Albuquerque, the majority of them occurring right along the campus border.

"I'm out here today because I think this war in Iraq is not very democratic," said TVI student Cyrus Gould.

Gould attended a Thursday protest along Central Avenue by the University where 17 protesters were arrested and Albuquerque police used tear gas to quell the demonstrators.

After that demonstration which was characterized by clashes between sign-bearing demonstrators and armed police dressed in riot gear, organizers at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice called a press conference Friday to address the events of the previous night.

Many at the press conference said their right to engage in acts of civil disobedience was circumvented during the previous night.

The press conference featured first-hand accounts of alleged police brutality, individual political statements about the war and a discussion about an agreement between Mayor Martin Chavez and lawyers representing the demonstrators.

"We hope this is the beginning of a new attitude between police and the peace movement," said Eric Sirotkin of the National Lawyers Guild, who is working as an observer and legal counselor for the demonstrators.

Sirotkin reported that Chavez said he wants the demonstrators to be able to express their First Amendment rights, but not to endanger anyone in the process.

Protests continued through Sunday, when hundreds once again gathering in front of the UNM Bookstore for a march to the Albuquerque Civic Center.

"The reasons we're here is for the people who can't speak up for themselves -- in my mind, that's the children of Iraq," said Allen Cooper, who was making pre-march announcements to the crowd for event organizers, which included the Committee To Stop the War Machine and Veterans For Peace.

Altercations during anti-war events in previous days made for an environment wrought with tension for demonstrators and police alike.

"If you choose to escalate the situation, you are endangering yourself and others," Cooper said. "I'm not a pacifist but I'm using the tactic of non-violence because the force opposing us is intimidating."

Volunteers from the UNM School of Law were on hand in case any legal issues arose from the protest.

"The police seem to be very territorial," said Andrew Sedrel, a UNM graduate student pursuing his master's degree in education. "I haven't seen anything that justifies some of the police responses, but I don't doubt that there are inciters on both sides."

Some protesters said that the peace movement has changed since the war began.

"I think it's actually growing," said UNM law student Kyle Wiswall. "The movement has changed as a level of desperation. Now, it's not just imminent, it's actually happening."

Still others at the rally offered support for the war effort; saying that the protests should not be taken seriously.

"I think largely that the peace movement is being ignored by the administration, as it should be," Albuquerque engineer Vince Costello said. "The focus has to be on the war. If this was about oil, we would have taken it 12 years ago."