So the night before the Inauguration I got this story in the mail…
While tickets were sold for the bleacher seating areas along the parade route, some parts are open to the general public. Adam Eidinger, a local activist, said police had asked the groups for plans for their marches. They have refused, he said.
“For them not to reveal their plans doesn’t mean they have anything sinister in mind,” said Eidinger, who boasts that his unsuccessful campaign last fall for D.C.’s shadow congressional representative still got more votes (25,000) than Bush did here (21,000).
Pretty damn cool that our campaign totals made it to syndicated news :-)
And tonight we celebrated because:
The District government agreed yesterday to pay a total of $425,000 to seven people caught up in a mass arrest at a downtown park in September 2002, acknowledging that they were wrongfully arrested and promising to adopt changes in police procedures.
It totally pays to protest…
But this ruling goes beyond the money. On Thursday night, I witnessed the police use their new procedures which this ruling helped enact. During an Inaugural unpermitted anarchist march from DuPont Circle to Union Station, the police warned the protesters 3 distinct times before they rammed the protesters on to the sidewalk. Granted the police used violence first, they didn’t ram the protesors without giving warning. They also didn’t arrest any of them. There was some restraint. Not like how was in the past, these last 5 years of activism has literally paid off.
Anyways, I’m feeling fat & sassy from eating so much sushi!
Happy Birthday Chris!
