Free Soviets
01-04-2004, 22:29
http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/90482/index.php
The NYPD announced today that it would begin building a fifty mile long protest barrier around Manhattan island in advance of the Republican National Convention this summer. The pen will run north from the Battery around the Harlem River and back down the Hudson, with additional fences running down 8th and 6th Avenues.
"We actually have no idea how many protesters will be in New York this summer for the Convention," said Chief Ray Kelly. "500,000? A million? We need to balance the rights of Americans to exercise their First Ammendment liberties with the rights of Starbucks to sell expensive lattes. So then we figured: lets make the whole island a pen!"
Instructions on the NYPD web site (http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/) have been set up to facilitate the movements of protesters. "Please enter Manhattan from Fort Tryon Park, and proceed south!" the site reads. "Do not enter the city from the Lincoln or Holland Tunnels!"
A spokesman with United for Peace and Justice voiced skepticism over the Manhattan-Pen plan, though he called it "an acceptable compromise."
"You have no idea," he told Indymedia. "Originally the police wanted to build a fence along Long Island too, which, as you know, includes the outer borroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. But thanks to the efforts of our members, the pen will only circle Manhattan."
Out on the East River, several protesters waving red and black flags sat in a tugboat. "Don't go into the pens!!" screamed one protester who only identifes herself as Blowtorch. "Out here on the river, on this tugboat, we retain complete autonomy of protest movement against the pig police who have usurped Turtle Island."
See other Indymedia Features:
Bush & Cheney Resign; Hastert Wrestles with U.S. Presidency (http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/03/110690.shtml)
Blair Government Cancels Mayday (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288324.html)
Indymedia.org team in merger talks with CBS/Viacom (http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/03/110687.shtml)
The NYPD announced today that it would begin building a fifty mile long protest barrier around Manhattan island in advance of the Republican National Convention this summer. The pen will run north from the Battery around the Harlem River and back down the Hudson, with additional fences running down 8th and 6th Avenues.
"We actually have no idea how many protesters will be in New York this summer for the Convention," said Chief Ray Kelly. "500,000? A million? We need to balance the rights of Americans to exercise their First Ammendment liberties with the rights of Starbucks to sell expensive lattes. So then we figured: lets make the whole island a pen!"
Instructions on the NYPD web site (http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/) have been set up to facilitate the movements of protesters. "Please enter Manhattan from Fort Tryon Park, and proceed south!" the site reads. "Do not enter the city from the Lincoln or Holland Tunnels!"
A spokesman with United for Peace and Justice voiced skepticism over the Manhattan-Pen plan, though he called it "an acceptable compromise."
"You have no idea," he told Indymedia. "Originally the police wanted to build a fence along Long Island too, which, as you know, includes the outer borroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. But thanks to the efforts of our members, the pen will only circle Manhattan."
Out on the East River, several protesters waving red and black flags sat in a tugboat. "Don't go into the pens!!" screamed one protester who only identifes herself as Blowtorch. "Out here on the river, on this tugboat, we retain complete autonomy of protest movement against the pig police who have usurped Turtle Island."
See other Indymedia Features:
Bush & Cheney Resign; Hastert Wrestles with U.S. Presidency (http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/03/110690.shtml)
Blair Government Cancels Mayday (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288324.html)
Indymedia.org team in merger talks with CBS/Viacom (http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/03/110687.shtml)