S.F. PROTEST: Raucous Union Square rally
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Demonstrators gathered in San Francisco at Union Square on Tuesday to
rally noisily against President Bush and his State of the Union address.
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Organizers estimated the crowd at about 4,000 people, many of whom beat
makeshift drums, clanged pots and pans, blew whistles or just screamed as
Bush’s speech was broadcast live — without sound — on a giant video
screen.
The World Can’t Wait, a national protest group calling for Bush to step
down, organized the demonstration to urge the protesters to march in an
anti-Bush rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
“Through this political action and this mobilization of people, we want to
peacefully drive this regime from power,” said Marc TerBeek, a spokesman for
the organizers.
The protest began at about 5 p.m. with speakers ranging from former San
Francisco poet laureate Devorah Major, UC Berkeley biology Professor Kevin
Padian and Rev. Charles Tigard pumping up the partisan crowd an hour before
Bush took the podium.
“We know that we stand at a pivotal time for our country, for our planet,”
said Tigard of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco in the Castro
neighborhood. “We cannot, and we will not be silent.”
Protesters echoed the sentiments of many of the speakers, who attacked
Bush’s stance on a range of issues — from the Iraq war to domestic spying to
abortion rights.
“I can’t count all the reasons why I’m here,” said Anna Asevedo, 43, of
San Francisco, who was accompanied by her 3-year-old son, Brom McCullough.
“I’m here because I need to stand up and be accountable,” said Nica Ross,
22, of San Francisco.
The chants, drumbeats and other noise during Bush’s speech bounced off the
walls from commercial buildings surrounding Union Square.
The rally ended shortly after 7 p.m. — after the big-screen monitor
went dark — with a 40-foot effigy of Bush being pulled down to the ground in
a mockery of the destruction of a statue of Saddam Hussein.
Although loud, the demonstration remained peaceful.
No arrests were made, according to Sgt. Neville Gittens, spokesman for the
San Francisco Police Department.
E-mail Cicero A. Estrella at cestrella@sfchronicle.com.
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