Reply #7: DC cops think this might be a big one: [View All]

[babylonsister]

Police Fortify Numbers for War Protests
March to Be First Since D.C. Passed Arrest Law

By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 18, 2005; Page C07

D.C. police have canceled days off and are planning to deploy several hundred officers during an antiwar demonstration next weekend that will include a march near the White House, but officials said they expect no trouble.

Saturday's rally, part of a weekend of protests and counter-protests, will be the first demonstration allowed to surround the White House in more than a decade. It is the first major rally to occur since a D.C. law that requires police to give clear warnings before arresting demonstrators took effect.

Passed in response to the much-criticized mass arrests of protesters at a downtown park in 2002, the law also restricts the use of police lines to contain nonviolent demonstrators and requires that police wear clearly identifiable badge numbers. Police also may not stop spontaneous rallies -- as long as such incidents do not clog sidewalks or violate traffic laws -- by arresting demonstrators for protesting without a permit. <snip>

Organizers are asking protesters to gather at 11 a.m. Saturday on the Ellipse, where the rally will take place. The march will cover a stretch of streets in the blocks surrounding the White House and Justice Department and wind up back on the Ellipse, organizers said. <snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...