Rose Bowl police preparing for anti-Bush & anti-China protesters

[Algorem]

Dissent on parade

Law enforcement gears up for possible Rose Parade demonstrations against President Bush and the Chinese government

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=5488&IssueNum=104

By By André Coleman and Joe Piasecki


Pasadena police are preparing for the Rose Parade by training to remove protestors — whether targeting a China-themed float or joining Cindy Sheehan in a call to impeach President Bush — who they expect may attempt to bring the parade to a halt.

Pulling people from the street “is really the last thing we want to do,” said Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian, “but we are prepared to do that very quickly and very efficiently. We always prepare ourselves for this.”

Melekian will lead a New Year’s interagency task force that includes FBI agents, bomb-sniffing dogs and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), as well as members of the National Guard and Marine Reserves. The city also holds contracts for patrol services with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol.

As many as 200 anti-Bush activists are hoping to capture international attention by staging multiple demonstrations along the 5.5-mile parade route, an action they are calling Operation White Rose after an historic Nazi resistance movement. Groups joining the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center include antiwar organizations such as CODEPINK, World Can’t Wait, the ANSWER Coalition and Veterans for Peace, said organizer and Glendale resident Tobi Dragert...


A Walking Call to Impeach Bush Arrives in the East Village
Posted by Julie Bolcer at 12:24 PM, December 27, 2007

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2007/12/saving_the_cons.php

John Nirenberg would walk 500 miles. And it sounds like he would walk 500 more. But unlike the persistent pop tune by The Proclaimers, he refuses to be the man who falls down at Nancy Pelosi’s door.

Nirenberg, a hearty New York City native and current resident of Brattelboro, Vermont, intends to be standing when he reaches Washington, D.C. around January 10, at the conclusion of a scheduled 40-day walk that began in Boston on December 1. This fall, the 60-year-old professor of organizational behavior and Air Force veteran decided to traverse Route 1 on foot to implore House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings against President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

“It was about a whole collection of issues around the Constitution and the behavior of this administration,” explains Nirenberg, who finds that his sense of outrage and jogging background help him complete 15 miles per day. “Especially the torture issue, the spying, and an illegal war. All of this, at some point, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I decided that I needed to do something different.”

In order to channel his frustration, Nirenberg founded the non-profit organization, March in My Name, where his trek can be followed on the Web site, www.marchinmyname.org
He hopes also that by collecting photos, testimonials and petition signatures, he can show Speaker Pelosi that popular support exists for her, at the very least, to allow the House Judiciary Committee to open a hearing into the behavior of the Bush administration...

[demnan]

1. There is a big march scheduled January 11

Maybe he'll be there as well. I'd like to meet him as I get email from him all the time.

[tbyg52]

2. Many thanks and best wishes to the demonstrators

I hope they're able to get massive amounts of coverage.