csua.org/u/b39 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/03/20/protesters.DTL
Sirens wailed throughout downtown and helicopters whirred overhead most of the day as police in riot gear hustled to keep up with bands of demonstrators. Often they were unsuccessful, as small groups of protesters scurried into place in intersections or dodged around corners to elude police. Police and highway patrol officers thwarted the effort, but the crowd managed to snarl traffic. Some blocked intersections while others made a run for the bridge. Dozens of officers remained stationed at the ramps to turn back further attempts to take the bridge. At the Transbay Terminal, police used tear gas to break up a crowd that was storming the Fremont Street off-ramp of the Bay Bridge. With the fluid nature of the demonstrations, estimates on the total number of participants were hard to come by. Sheriff Michael Hennessey said some protesters had fired bolts from slingshots, and others had slashed the tires of squad cars. One protester tried to take an officer's handgun, he said. The demonstrations were the largest in San Francisco since the 1991 Gulf War and were marked by a sense of anger unseen at peace rallies earlier this year. The demonstrations were centered in the Financial District, Civic Center and Mission District. Protesters shut down Market Street and many surrounding intersections and streets while marching through the city. It left drivers fuming in traffic and the Municipal Railway scrambling to reroute buses. Cable cars and the historic F-line trolleys were shut down, and buses were wildly off-course all day. The 38-Geary and 7-Haight, for example, were seen on Mission Street throughout the day. I hope people realize that political murder merits action that inconveniences them,'' said Quinn Miller, 32. His hope went unanswered among some of the people who were late to work or unable to maneuver through downtown. One of the hottest was Seventh and Mission streets, where scores of baton-wielding police surrounded some 200 demonstrators in a tense standoff that lasted about two hours. Police corraled the protesters, refusing to let them pass and, witnesses said, hit many of them with their batons. At least one person escaped after breaking a window in the federal courthouse and climbing into the building. One of those arrested was Wendy Norris, a graduate student in museum studies. Mayor Willie Brown said in no uncertain terms that, although he opposes the war, he had no patience for the demonstrators. He spent the morning at Franklin and Fell streets waving a sign reading "Viva Bush'' on one side and "Go to hell, peaceniks'' on the other. Nearly all the Police Department's 2,300 officers were on the clock Wednesday, joined by scores of CHP troopers. Although police braced for the worst, they found themselves scrambling to keep up with the wide-ranging demonstrations. At some spots, firefighters had to assist police by using bolt cutters to separate protesters who had locked their arms together in metal sleeves. At Montgomery and Clay streets, about 15 demonstrators linked arms through lengths of 3-foot-long plastic tubing requiring four dozen police in riot gear to carefully and gingerly saw them apart. He's in the Army,'' said Lea, a 34-year-old protester who declined to give her last name. The demonstrators, united in their cause, were varied in their tactics. A band calling itself "Pukers for Peace'' vomited on the steps of the Federal Building. The "Crafty Bitches, Knitting for Peace,'' knitted at Fourth and Market streets. At First and Market streets, a handful of women did yoga -- earning them some sexually suggestive comments from passers-by. All were boisterous as they waved signs, chanted slogans and sang songs. Brad Kelly, a tourist visiting from Phoenix with his wife and three children, watched the protests from Chinatown. This story was reported by Chronicle staff writers Nanette Asimov, Michael Cabanatuan, Bob Egelko, Kevin Fagan, Joe Garofoli, Rachel Gordon, Julian Guthrie, Anastasia Hendrix, Henry K. Lee, Ilene Lelchuk, Steve Rubenstein, Katherine Kathleen Seligman, Katherine Kathleen Sullivan, Jaxon Vanderbeken and Jim Herron Zamora. Starting April 9th through May 23rd Berkeley Repertory Theatre Bay Area 118 Free Smoked Sockeye Salmon!
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