UFP protest August 29th.

It's amazing how news agencies can reduce the appearance of nearly half a 
million people to a footnote, taking conservative estimates and magnifying 
arrests.

The AP article picked up by most outlets was one by David Espo. The quote 
below that comes from Adam's post is actually longer.

>Police gave no official crowd estimate, though one law enforcement
>official, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the crowd [of
>anti-Bush protesters] at 120,000; organizers claimed it was more than
>four times as large.

here it is in full:
Police gave no official estimate of the day's protest.  One official put the 
size at 120,000, although it took nearly five hours for the procession to pass 
Madison Square Garden.  Delegates meet there beginning today to nominate Bush 
and Cheney for second terms.
Organizers claimed they had turned out about 500,000 protesters.


A member of the group I traveled with actually spoke with the police. They 
were saying they pegged it at about 400,000.  There's no way it was 120,000.


I got on a bus here in Burlington at 4 in the morning. In Burlington it was 
announced that Will Miller would have liked to have been there, but he in ill 
health due to recent surgery.  A member of Veterans for Peace, Navy chapter 
carried a green silk scarf out of respect for him. A couple of stops further 
south in Vermont, then straight on down the NY interstate. We hit the NYC area 
around ten, but were so delayed by parking problems we didn't catch the subway 
into town until after 11.  There were three different places to park buses, 
including one about ten minutes away by subway in New Jersey, but the 
organizers of this trip chose Shea Stadium, which is out in Queens. (Awesome 
view of the skyline crossing the Whitestone bridge, though)

Our group hit town around twelve, and we were quickly separated as we passed 
through the bottom of Union Park.  I don't know which staging street I ended 
up on, but I do know we waited for over an hour to start marching.  People 
listening to radios passed along news about the head of the march, bands 
played, and radical socialists screamed chants.  It was hot, even though we 
were half in the shade.  Helicopters hovered overhead; we waved and cheered.

It took a damn long time to get to Madison Square Garden.  I would estimate 
about 3 hours.  People waved to us from buildings.  Two women high up in an 
apartment building threw wads of shredded paper that drifted down across the 
street.  The signs were the best.  "Republicans are selfish lovers"  "Draft 
the Bush Twins"  "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease"  "Darn Good Liar" "I'm on a No C
(heney) A(shcroft) R(umsfeld) B(ush) Diet! (And no Rice either!)" Thousands 
and thousands more.  Men and women hawking buttons, T-shirts, whistles, 
stickers.  The protest flowed up onto the sidewalks to get away from the sun.  
The energy of the crowd was uneven, due to the heat.

Cops?  I saw quite a few.  Most seemed to be joking among themselves about the 
protest and protesters, but did not, in my presence, heckle the crowd.  I was 
in the center and left side of the column most of the time, so I will admit I 
could not always see what was going on at the sides of the protest.  The crowd 
of cops past the Garden was impressive, as was the gun one of 
the men was carrying.  They gave the appearance of guarding Fox News 
Headquarters more zealously than the Garden or the delegates' hotels.  I 
expected a little reaction when the crowd started up a cry of 'Fox News 
Sucks!', but there was none.

On 34th, a right-to-life group screamed at us, their signs equating the 
protest to supporting terrorism.  'Shame on you', cried the crowd, and some 
protesters stopped to engage the zealots.  Once again, I expected trouble, but 
there was a police barricade separating the two, and the crowd seemed to move 
on after a minute or two.  There were some other groups along the right side 
of the street,including Communists for Kerry 
http://www.communistsforkerry.com (a Bush front), which were greeted with 
cries of 'brainwashed'.  (Still makes me smile.)  

I had worked my way up from the back to the middle by the time we reached the 
Garden.  The crowd thinned out on the return trip, losing some of its focus 
and energy.  When we reached Union Square, one of the organizers greeted us 
over a PA system, and told us the crowd was being estimated at 400,000, thanks 
for coming, but leave Union Square ASAP. (Thanks for coming, but...)

Union Square park was full of folks, and as I passed by, I wished I could join 
them. Caught the subway back to Queens, arrived just in time to catch my bus.  
Got back around 1.  I wished I could have stayed and gone on to Central Park.  
Wish I could have stayed for the protest today.  I hope the heads that made it 
down to NYC will write something for the list.

Speaking as a plain old average Jane protester, the march was a great 
experience. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't put any thought into prior planning 
for this trip (well,aside from writing the NYC NLG number on my arm, and 
bringing a first aid kit).  I didn't get lost or hurt.  I had plenty of water 
( Thanks to the people who misted the crowd with cool water). I 
had a great time. 

I would like to pass on one piece of advice: Don't sit in front of a fervent 
ISO member on a 6 hour bus trip.  

Articles:
New York Indymedia
http://nyc.indymedia.org/

China Daily
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/30/content_370138.htm

Associated Press, by David Espo
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/3000h.htm

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30protest.html

peace,
x.
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