As delegates arrived Sunday for the Democratic National Convention, protesters clamored for attention, staging demonstrations and marches across the city against the Iraq war, abortion and a host of other issues.
| "Hey! Over here! Lookit me!" |
An estimated 3,000 demonstrators, most of them protesting against the war, rallied on Boston Common before winding their way through the city and marching past the FleetCenter, the downtown arena where delegates are nominating hometown candidate John Kerry for president this week. They were accompanied by a ragtag group demonstrating against everything from oppression in Haiti to better funding for schools and health care. The protesters passed the FleetCenter before looping back through City Hall Plaza and returning to the Common - a 50-acre park that is the starting point for the Freedom Trail and was once used for public hangings. ``This is just the beginning of a week of protests,'' said Larry Holmes, spokesman for the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, the coalition of activist groups that staged the march. At Faneuil Hall, the historic meeting house where patriots gathered before the American Revolution, an estimated 1,000 anti-abortion protesters staged a rally before a smaller group set off on their own march toward the FleetCenter. A brief scuffle broke out on the Common between some of the peace demonstrators and a man carrying a graphic anti-abortion sign. Witnesses said the man was pushed to the ground and his shirt was torn, but he was unhurt. The anti-war and anti-abortion groups crossed paths again a few blocks from the FleetCenter and exchanged angry words. A handful of anti-abortion marchers lay in the street in the fetal position as their fellow protesters drew chalk outlines around them. Police moved them along, and the marches continued their separate ways after a few moments of confusion. Authorities took two people into custody. One was later released without charges. |