Anti-Bush Activists Launch NYC Convention Protests
Fri Aug 27, 2004 09:37 PM ET
By Mark Egan
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6093243&src=rss/ElectionCoverage§ion=news
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of cyclists brought traffic in midtown
Manhattan to a
virtual standstill on Friday in the first significant protest ahead of the
Republican
convention at which President Bush will be nominated to run for a second
White House term.
Thousands of cyclists swarmed down Broadway from Central Park in a parade
stretching more
than a mile on Friday evening -- a time when the area is typically crowded
with
theatergoers and people out for dinner and drinks.
The protest lasted several hours, with many chanting "No more Bush," and
was the first
sizable demonstration ahead of the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 convention. Many locals
in the mostly
Democratic city stopped to applaud the cyclists as they passed through a
bustling Times
Square.
At least 30 cyclists were detained and handcuffed at various locations
along the route
after small altercations between riders and motorists who were irritated
at the
congestion, according to Reuters witnesses.
The New York Police Department said it had no immediate information about
arrests.
The event was mounted by a group called Critical Mass, which wants to
boost the rights of
cyclists in traffic-clogged city streets and holds its rides in cities
around the world on
the last Friday of each month.
More demonstrations are expected in the coming days.
The biggest anti-Bush protest is set for Sunday, when more than 200,000
are expected to
march to decry the Bush administration's economic policies, the war in
Iraq and what they
see as the erosion of civil liberties at home after the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks.
The group organizing Sunday's march was denied a permit to rally in
Central Park on the
grounds such a large crowd would damage the grass.
An unprecedented security effort has been put in place to protect the
Republican
convention after Washington said the event, and last month's Democratic
convention in
Boston, were possible terrorist targets.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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