Republican rally rankles dove demonstrators
Just a day before federal the midterm election, over 100 Dallas-area residents honked horns, beat drums and chanted in protest of the Bush administration’s policy of regime change in Iraq.
Some dressed in suits, others adorned with septum-rings, the protestors carried signs that read “War is Terrorism” and chanted “We won’t fight your daddy’s war” as they gathered at the intersection of Mockingbird and I-75.
“This is democracy in action,” said Scott Charney, a sophomore English and history major.
The Dallas Peace Center organized the protest in response to an appearance by President George W. Bush at a Republican political rally held at Moody Coliseum Monday evening.
“[The president] needs to take any freshman class in political science,” said Lon Burnam, the center’s director. “The first thing you’d learn is that you don’t start a war to hide an election.”
Even though the presidential caravan didn’t drive by the protest site, Burnam was satisfied that people on their way to the rally heard their message.
While some protestors on the corner made imitations of doves with their hands, drivers passing by used their hands to flip the bird at the group, others honked their horns in support of the demonstrators.
Police and secret service men surrounded the group to insure that the protest remained peaceful.
Officer T. Wielding of the Highland Park Police Department looked on from across the street.
“It’s great to see so many people out here,” said Wielding, who graduated 28 years ago from Kent State University in Ohio, the site of student protests against the Vietnam War that turned deadly after the Ohio National Guard killed four and wounded nine students.
“But [tonight’s] protests were largely peaceful,” he said. “It’s a new world. It’s a free country.” Just a day before federal the midterm election, over 100 Dallas-area residents honked horns, beat drums and chanted in protest of the Bush administration’s policy of regime change in Iraq.
Some dressed in suits, others adorned with septum-rings, the protestors carried signs that read “War is Terrorism” and chanted “We won’t fight your daddy’s war” as they gathered at the intersection of Mockingbird and I-75.
“This is democracy in action,” said Scott Charney, a sophomore English and history major.
The Dallas Peace Center organized the protest in response to an appearance by President George W. Bush at a Republican political rally held at Moody Coliseum Monday evening.
“[The president] needs to take any freshman class in political science,” said Lon Burnam, the center’s director. “The first thing you’d learn is that you don’t start a war to hide an election.”
Even though the presidential caravan didn’t drive by the protest site, Burnam was satisfied that people on their way to the rally heard their message.
While some protestors on the corner made imitations of doves with their hands, drivers passing by used their hands to flip the bird at the group, others honked their horns in support of the demonstrators.
“It’s important for the people of this country to see that there are other people who don’t want this war waged in their name,” said Moumita Rahman, the president of SMU’s chapter of Amnesty International.
Police and secret service men surrounded the group to insure that the protest remained peaceful.
Officer T. Wielding of the Highland Park Police Department looked on from across the street.
“It’s great to see so many people out here,” said Wielding, who graduated 28 years ago from Kent State University in Ohio, the site of student protests against the Vietnam War that turned deadly after the Ohio National Guard killed four and wounded nine students.
“But [tonight’s] protests were largely peaceful,” he said. “It’s a new world. It’s a free country.”
Click here for more pictures of President Bush and the protest on Mockingbird
Republican rally rankles dove demonstrators
