Faux Real
13th February 2008, 03:07
(02-12) 18:30 PST Berkeley - --
Downtown Berkeley became a battleground of its own kind today as about 500 anti-war and pro-military protesters faced off in a public plaza over the Marine Corps' recruiting center in the city. Three protesters - a man and two teenagers - were arrested in separate scuffles, police said.
The City Council is scheduled to decide tonight whether to revoke a letter it approved two weeks ago telling the Marines they are "unwelcome intruders" and should leave. The council's action provoked widespread debate.
In anticipation of the meeting tonight at City Hall, anti-war protesters lined up on one side of Martin Luther King Jr. Way while pro-military groups took control of the other side. Things were peaceful for most of the morning.
But by early afternoon things heated up as more than three dozen police with batons and riot gear formed a line to separate the two sides. About 1 p.m., a man supporting the Marines' presence in Berkeley ventured into the encampment of anti-war group Code Pink and drew a knife.
Police arrested 49-year-old Keith Donald Salvatore of Rocklin (Placer County) for allegedly brandishing the weapon. Salvatore told police he had drawn the knife in self-defense after anti-war protesters wrapped him in a pink banner, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, a police spokeswoman.
A Code Pink activist from San Ramon said the man threatened to kill her, Kumiss said.
About 250 people showed up on each side. They included dozens of students from local schools, including Berkeley High, who chanted "One, two, three, four. Berkeley High against the war."
Police warned the students not to antagonize the other side, but two boys on skateboards got into a yelling and swearing match with the Marine supporters. Fists flew, and some witnesses claimed the pro-Marine side struck the two students with a flagpole. The boys, 13 and 15 years old, were arrested.
A large group of students and adults gathered outside the police station, demanding that the teens be released, prompting police to order them to clear the area. When they didn't respond immediately, officers in riot gear held their batons horizontally in front of them and pushed the crowd back.
Maya Nadjieli, a 19-year-old Berkeley City College student, said she was hit in the stomach with a baton and punched twice in the face.
"No matter how far we were moving back, they kept hitting us," Nadjieli said.
Other protesters came from outside the city. One of them, Mary Mankowski of Portland, Ore., said she paid $350 to fly in Monday.
"It kills me to pay full fare but this is important," said Mankowski, who claimed that every generation of her family has served in the military since the American Revolution. "(This is an) outrageous erosion of our constitutional privileges."
Diane Britto of Lafayette and her friend Elynne Allen of Pleasant Hill vowed they would never spend another dollar in the city of Berkeley. Britto, whose son is in the Navy, said she would keep her season tickets to Cal football games but will have dinner in Oakland on game days from now on.
Berkeley's treatment of the Marines, she said, was "despicable to the rest of the nation."
Allen, whose husband served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, said she would push her car outside the city limits if it runs out of gas while she's in Berkeley.
Anti-war protesters gathered on the other side of the street, as Code Pink sold T-shirts, waved flags and sang "We Shall Not be Moved" through a loudspeaker.
"I'm here to thank the city council for dis-inviting the Marines," said Berkeley resident Tim Modok, who was attending with his schnauzer, Susie. "I'd rather have a porn (outlet) two blocks from an elementary school and a high school than I would a Marines recruiter; they're telling kids lies to get them into this war. These are very dangerous people. They're lying to their children, talking them into becoming killers."
Linci Comy of Oakland said she was there for future generations.
"I don't want my kids and grandkids to go to another war of occupation," she said. "We have to set a standard, we have to tell the world that military recruitment is no longer acceptable."
As the protests raged, the Marines recruiting station was closed and a lone police officer on a bicycle patrolled outside.
The City Council meets at 7 p.m. tonight at Maudelle Shirek City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley. An overflow crowd is expected for discussion of the Marines recruiting center, which is expected to begin about 9 p.m. For those who don't get inside, the city will broadcast audio from the meeting from loudspeakers outside City Hall.
Bunch of 40 year old right wingers assaulted anti-war/anti-recruitment high school students. It's quite telling of their fetishisation of violence and militarism.
If Berkeley becomes the first city where recruiting stations are banned I'm sure there will mobilize similar movements throughout the US in an attempt to do the same if not build upon that. Exciting times.
Downtown Berkeley became a battleground of its own kind today as about 500 anti-war and pro-military protesters faced off in a public plaza over the Marine Corps' recruiting center in the city. Three protesters - a man and two teenagers - were arrested in separate scuffles, police said.
The City Council is scheduled to decide tonight whether to revoke a letter it approved two weeks ago telling the Marines they are "unwelcome intruders" and should leave. The council's action provoked widespread debate.
In anticipation of the meeting tonight at City Hall, anti-war protesters lined up on one side of Martin Luther King Jr. Way while pro-military groups took control of the other side. Things were peaceful for most of the morning.
But by early afternoon things heated up as more than three dozen police with batons and riot gear formed a line to separate the two sides. About 1 p.m., a man supporting the Marines' presence in Berkeley ventured into the encampment of anti-war group Code Pink and drew a knife.
Police arrested 49-year-old Keith Donald Salvatore of Rocklin (Placer County) for allegedly brandishing the weapon. Salvatore told police he had drawn the knife in self-defense after anti-war protesters wrapped him in a pink banner, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, a police spokeswoman.
A Code Pink activist from San Ramon said the man threatened to kill her, Kumiss said.
About 250 people showed up on each side. They included dozens of students from local schools, including Berkeley High, who chanted "One, two, three, four. Berkeley High against the war."
Police warned the students not to antagonize the other side, but two boys on skateboards got into a yelling and swearing match with the Marine supporters. Fists flew, and some witnesses claimed the pro-Marine side struck the two students with a flagpole. The boys, 13 and 15 years old, were arrested.
A large group of students and adults gathered outside the police station, demanding that the teens be released, prompting police to order them to clear the area. When they didn't respond immediately, officers in riot gear held their batons horizontally in front of them and pushed the crowd back.
Maya Nadjieli, a 19-year-old Berkeley City College student, said she was hit in the stomach with a baton and punched twice in the face.
"No matter how far we were moving back, they kept hitting us," Nadjieli said.
Other protesters came from outside the city. One of them, Mary Mankowski of Portland, Ore., said she paid $350 to fly in Monday.
"It kills me to pay full fare but this is important," said Mankowski, who claimed that every generation of her family has served in the military since the American Revolution. "(This is an) outrageous erosion of our constitutional privileges."
Diane Britto of Lafayette and her friend Elynne Allen of Pleasant Hill vowed they would never spend another dollar in the city of Berkeley. Britto, whose son is in the Navy, said she would keep her season tickets to Cal football games but will have dinner in Oakland on game days from now on.
Berkeley's treatment of the Marines, she said, was "despicable to the rest of the nation."
Allen, whose husband served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, said she would push her car outside the city limits if it runs out of gas while she's in Berkeley.
Anti-war protesters gathered on the other side of the street, as Code Pink sold T-shirts, waved flags and sang "We Shall Not be Moved" through a loudspeaker.
"I'm here to thank the city council for dis-inviting the Marines," said Berkeley resident Tim Modok, who was attending with his schnauzer, Susie. "I'd rather have a porn (outlet) two blocks from an elementary school and a high school than I would a Marines recruiter; they're telling kids lies to get them into this war. These are very dangerous people. They're lying to their children, talking them into becoming killers."
Linci Comy of Oakland said she was there for future generations.
"I don't want my kids and grandkids to go to another war of occupation," she said. "We have to set a standard, we have to tell the world that military recruitment is no longer acceptable."
As the protests raged, the Marines recruiting station was closed and a lone police officer on a bicycle patrolled outside.
The City Council meets at 7 p.m. tonight at Maudelle Shirek City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley. An overflow crowd is expected for discussion of the Marines recruiting center, which is expected to begin about 9 p.m. For those who don't get inside, the city will broadcast audio from the meeting from loudspeakers outside City Hall.
Bunch of 40 year old right wingers assaulted anti-war/anti-recruitment high school students. It's quite telling of their fetishisation of violence and militarism.
If Berkeley becomes the first city where recruiting stations are banned I'm sure there will mobilize similar movements throughout the US in an attempt to do the same if not build upon that. Exciting times.