Tuesday, January 8, 2008

4 Anti War Activists Arrested at Bush Luncheon

Anti War Activists served Bush at his luncheon in Chicago


National Lawyers Guild observers report that there were 4 arrests. Arrestees include Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network and CCAWR and Kevin Clarke and Jeff Pickert from the International Solidarity Movement (I SM-Chicago ),



Demonstrators clash with cops outside Bush luncheon
- Associated Press.

CHICAGO -- Four antiwar demonstrators were arrested Monday in a brief clash with police outside the Union League Club in downtown Chicago where President Bush had just finished lunch with civic leaders.
The demonstrators tried to dart from the curb and into the street outside the club to stretch a large green banner saying "End the War and the Occupation" in front of Bush's motorcade.

They continued to struggle as horse-mounted police forced them back to the curb. Four of those who defied the officers and struggled to get into the street with their banner were arrested and taken away in a police van.

The names of those arrested and the charges against them would be released later, authorities said.

Fewer than 100 demonstrators waited for hours for Bush's motorcade to leave the club, which is located on Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop around the corner from Chicago's Everett M. Dirksen Federal Courthouse.

The demonstrators were closely watched by 15 horse-mounted police in powder-blue helmets. A huge powder-blue Streets and Sanitation Department truck sealed off the west end of the block in front of the club.

When the motorcade finally left, it was moving so fast that if Bush saw anything of the demonstrators it was no more than a fleeting glimpse.

Some people clustered on the sidewalk booed as the motorcade whisked by and as the demonstrators were taken into custody one young girl shouted: "This is what democracy looks like." Other bystanders cheered the president as his car went by, although it is unlikely he heard either.





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