about me

 

not alone I went to the protest last night. We gathered in Federal Plaza and then moved into the streets, eventually heading up Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. Traversing a major highway on foot is an odd, exhilirating sensation. Even more exhilirating were the periods where we were marching directly through stopped traffic. Many of the stranded motorists looked irritated, as you might suspect, but others were clearly thrilled to see us; they signaled us by flashing peace signs or holding up anti-war stickers or buttons; many stuck their hands out their windows to clasp hands with the protesters moving by. Eventually we attempted to move back into the streets of downtown Chicago and that was when the riot police blocked the march. More and more police arrived until we were basically surrounded. Rumors that the police were planning to soon use force began to circulate, and that was when the group I was with began to think "maybe it's time to go home." The police were letting people disperse down a particular street, and, of course, once enough people had headed down that way the protest sort of spontaneously re-established itself. We stuck around for a while longer but when I saw a cop distributing armloads of those plastic cuffs I once again thought "time to go." We wandered for a few blocks, passing several squadrons of police, until we found a cab. It took a long time for us to drive out of areas that weren't swarming with emergency vehicles. Hundreds of people ended up arrested.

Friday, March 21, 2003 1:09 PM   Comments: Post a Comment