Police, Protesters & Peace
[Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.]
The weather was perfect for today’s anti-war protest rally with Cindy Sheehan (sponsored by World Can’t Wait) and counter-protest rally sponsored by the Gathering of Eagles (and attended by some members of Rolling Thunder and the Patriot Guard Riders.) The Greensboro Police Department had a strong presence at the event, and the day was occasionally loud, but generally peaceful.
The News & Record estimates that there were about 300 protesters on the Sheehan side and about 150 for Gathering of Eagles. A report on the Eagles’ web site estimates that the numbers were about equal. One of the GPD officers told me that cops filled the Council chamber for a pre-event meeting, with more officers out in the hallway, so based on that, I’m estimating that around 150 officers were involved today. (Maybe more.)
Billy the Blogging Poet was at today’s rally, flying his plane!
Blogger David Hoggard smiled for my camera. Thanks, Hogg! 
Katie Darnley sold plenty of hot dogs and soft drinks — and she ran out of bottled water!
What’s a rally without portapotties?
I saw two of my favorite reporters, Lorraine Ahearn (News & Record) and Jordan Green (YES! Weekly), and bloggers Juan Vasquez (and his mom, who I hadn’t seen in years!) , and Andy Coon (filming, of course!)
The anti-war crowd had music and dancing and speeches. I honestly didn’t listen to any of the speeches*, but the crowd behaved peacefully. The Eagles had more flags and more shouting (and Harleys!) But they behaved peacefully, too. There were cops everywhere (uniforms and plainclothes), but they didn’t have to make any arrests.
So all in all, good day! (Thanks, GPD!)
[There were too many photos for one post, so click below for more!]
>> My Cindy Sheehan Rally Photos
>> My Gathering of Eagles Photos
>> My GPD Photos
Coverage from other bloggers:
>> David Hoggard
>> The Shu
>> Joe Killian (*Joe’s description of the anti-war rally explains well why I took pictures but didn’t listen to any of the speeches. I’m not a fan of the far-left or Communism.)
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:22 am
You’re welcome, Andy. And I look forward to seeing the film you shot.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
Cara Michele, thank you so much for the loose change to grab some cold water. I was randomly walking around filmming and didn’t realize how thirsty I was till you asked. Ahhh, thanks. Also realized when I got home my camcorder is busted and can’t download the footage. I should have it up shortly. Great seeing all the bloggers out and about.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:20 am
[...] I asked Cara Michele (left) which side of the war effort she was there to support. She said, “The Greensboro Police Department”. She kept spotting officers who were working in plain clothes and saying, “…there’s one”, (ed. note – see comment the first) but never let anyone in on who she was noticing. CM’s take on the day . [...]