January 20, 2005 counter-inaugural protest
Encyclopedia
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and other American cities to protest the second inauguration
Second inauguration of George W. Bush
The second inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on Thursday January 20, 2005. The inauguration marked the beginning of the second term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President. Ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
of U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Rally at Malcolm X Park
The DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) sponsored a mass rally and march at Malcolm X ParkMeridian Hill Park
Meridian Hill Park, is located in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Columbia Heights in the United States. The 12 acres of landscaped grounds are maintained by the National Park Service as part of Rock Creek Park, but are not contiguous with the main part of that park...
(Meridian Hill Park) to protest the inauguration of President George W. Bush. Following a number of speeches, the group marched south on 16th Street NW and east on H Street NW to McPherson Square
McPherson Square
McPherson Square is a square in downtown Washington, D.C.. It is bound by K Street Northwest to the north, Vermont Avenue NW on the East, Eye Street NW on the south, and 15th Street NW on the West; it is one block northeast of Lafayette Park. It is served by the McPherson Square station of the...
.
Speakers included:
- Amy GoodmanAmy GoodmanAmy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
- Democracy Now - Father Gerard Jean-JusteGérard Jean-JusteFr. Gérard Jean-Juste was a Roman Catholic priest and rector of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, the largest in Haiti. In 1978, Father Jean-Juste founded the Haitian Refugee Center...
- Former HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an political prisonerPolitical prisonerAccording to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’.... - Reverend Graylan HaglerGraylan HaglerRev. Graylan Hagler is an African-American pastor and activist. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Hagler received a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion from Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1976. Three years later, he received his Masters of Divinity degree from The Chicago Theological Seminary...
- Civil rights leader, Plymouth Congregational Church - Stan GoffStan GoffStan Goff is a writer, activist, and United States Army veteran having served from 1970 to 1996. He has been an anti-imperialist activist, feminist, socialist, and is now a Christian and a pacifist. He is the co-author of the weblog Feral Scholar, along with D. A...
- Military Families Speak OutMilitary Families Speak OutMilitary Families Speak Out is a US based anti-Iraq war group.Military Families Speak Out was founded by two military families in November, 2002 to speak out against the planned US invasion of Iraq to try to prevent the invasion.... - Shujaa Graham - Exonerated death rowDeath rowDeath row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
inmate - Medea BenjaminMedea BenjaminMedea Benjamin is an American political activist, best known for co-founding Code Pink and, along with her husband, activist and author Kevin Danaher, fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange...
- Code PinkCode PinkCode Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
, Global ExchangeGlobal ExchangeGlobal Exchange is an advocacy group and non-governmental organization , based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice around the world.-History:... - Michael RatnerMichael RatnerMichael Ratner is an attorney, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights , a non-profit human rights litigation organization based in New York, New York and president of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights based in Berlin.Ratner is known for his human rights...
- International Human Rights lawyer, Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional RightsAl Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at... - David CobbDavid CobbDavid Keith Cobb is an American activist and was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United States .-Career and political activities:...
- 2004 Green PartyGreen Party (United States)The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
presidential candidate - Zach Lown - International Socialist OrganizationInternational Socialist OrganizationThe International Socialist Organization is a revolutionary socialist organization in the United States that identifies with the politics of International Socialism, a current of Trotskyism, and the Marxist political tradition that American socialist writer and activist Hal Draper called...
- Aidan DelgadoAidan DelgadoAidan Delgado is a lawyer and former soldier in the 320th Military Police Company of the United States Army, best known for having become a conscientious objector in April 2003 during his deployment to Iraq and for disclosing information about Abu Ghraib.-Army career:Delgado states that he joined...
- Iraq War veteran - Andy ShallalAndy ShallalAnas "Andy" Shallal is an Iraqi-American artist, activist and restaurateur. He is best known for his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and as proprietor of the Busboys and Poets restaurant chain in the Washington, DC area.-Early life:Shallal moved to the United States with his family in 1966...
- Iraqi-American activist - Mark LanceMark LanceMark Lance is a professor in the Philosophy Department and Justice and Peace Studies Program at Georgetown University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of Robert Brandom and his main area of expertise is the philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophical...
- Palestinian rights activist - Ellen ThomasEllen ThomasEllen Thomas is an American activist who has been the primary support person for the vigil in front of the White House against nuclear weapons for over a decade. She first became involved with the vigil on April 13, 1984. The daughter of a U.S. Marine, Thomas grew up in California and became...
- Anti-nuclear activist - David RovicsDavid RovicsDavid Rovics is an American indie singer/songwriter. His music concerns topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization and social justice issues. Rovics has been an outspoken critic of former President George W...
- Folk singer - Son Of Nun - Political rapper
Die-in
A separate-but-related event, also sponsored by DAWN, was a civil disobedienceCivil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
die-in
Die-in
A die-in is a form of protest where participants simulate being dead.- Overview :In the simplest form of a die-in, protesters simply lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead, sometimes covering themselves with signs or banners...
. Waiting thirty minutes after the last participants in the main march had left Malcolm X Park, a smaller group marched from Malcolm X Park to Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square may refer to a place in the United States:*Lafayette Square, Los Angeles, California, a neighborhood in the mid-city section of L.A.*Lafayette Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Central Business District*Lafayette Square, St...
. There, a security perimeter inhibited further southbound progress. With the intention of being quickly arrested, 17 people laid down on the street in front of Lafayette Square. Police did not arrest the die-in participants, leaving them to lie on the street for three and a half hours until they left on their own.
Protest Warrior confrontation
Protest Warrior
Protest Warrior was a conservative political activist group. It was formed in 2003 by Alan Lipton and Kfir Alfia in Austin, Texas. The group is primarily known for organizing counter-protests in favor of the Iraq war...
group, several rally participants, and DAWN marshals got into a confrontation. According to Indymedia sources, "Toward the end of the rally, when there were at least 10,000 people in the park, a Protest Warrior led a few 20-something conservative college kids into, (in their own words) 'the belly of the beast' to systematically seek out 'black-block' anarchists among the mass of peaceful demonstrators and flaunt their pro-Bush war signs in order to instigate a conflict."
Several activists assaulted Gil Kobrin, leader of the Protest Warrior contingent at the protest. According to Kobrin, "A heavy-set black man in a trench coat patted his left lapel, muttering something about a pipe. When he saw that we weren't leaving, he made a grab for one of our signs. I stepped in to get between him and the Protest Warrior, and was tripped by one of the anarchists. At that moment, all hell broke loose... As I struggled to get up in the slippery snow, two anarchists began kicking me in the back; Protest Warriors were being shoved and punched all around me." It appears that there is no evidence to support the claim that Protest Warrior "sought out" a particular faction within the DAWN rally. The fact that DAWN marshals agreed to allow the Protest Warriors to stay prior to the violent outbreak appears to indicate that Protest Warriors' presence was not apparently provocative; in Kobrin's recollection, "I remembered [incidents at] the RNC, and was not looking forward to a repeat of the violence there."
Mitch Potts, one of the DAWN marshals, attempted to mediate the conflict and seek a peaceful resolution. Another DAWN marshal told the Protest Warriors that DAWN had a permit to peacefully assemble in the park, and that the Protest Warriors could not stay if they were going to disrupt that peace. Potts then offered to safely escort the Protest Warriors out of the park, and arranged a place for them on 16th Street along the march route.
Black Bloc breakaway march
At 16th and P Streets NW, a group of roughly 1,000 people separated from the main march. The group primarily consisted of participants in the black bloc, but also contained "drummers, radical cheerleadersRadical cheerleading
Radical cheerleading is a form of cheerleading that originated in Florida, but has now spread across the United States as well as Canada, Europe and beyond. The idea is to ironically reappropriate the aesthetics of cheerleading, for example by changing the chants to promote feminism and left-wing...
, and belly dance
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
rs". This group marched through the streets, ending up at the security checkpoint set up at 7th and D Streets NW. Here, the police and the demonstrators got into a conflict, and the police pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
ed and beat several demonstrators.
Parade route
ANSWER CoalitionA.N.S.W.E.R.
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism , also known as International A.N.S.W.E.R. and the ANSWER Coalition, is a United States-based protest umbrella group consisting of many antiwar and civil rights organizations...
had secured a permit for a protest along the Parade Route, to be held at 4th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Due to security procedures in place, signs could only be made of cardboard, posterboard, or cloth, and could be no larger than three feet by 20 feet, and one quarter inch thickness. According to the ANSWER Coalition, over 10,000 antiwar protested at A.N.S.W.E.R. Mass Convergence site on Inaugural Parade route between 3rd & 4th St. on Pennsylvania Ave. Thousands of other protesters were blocked at Secret Service Checkpoints.
In one demonstration, called Turn Your Back on Bush
Turn Your Back on Bush
Turn Your Back on Bush was a form of protest in the United States to express dissatisfaction with former President George W. Bush. The first known protest took place on June 14, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio where President Bush delivered a commencement address to the graduating class of Ohio State...
, unmarked protesters lined the parade route and turned their backs when the presidential motorcade passed by. According to the organizer's Web site, over 5,000 people from 41 states participated in this demonstration.
Critical Mass at Dupont Circle
At 4:00 PM, all who had participated in other demonstrations earlier in the day were invited to Dupont Circle for a "Mass Re-meet" at Dupont Circle. Hot food and drinks were provided for participants. A Critical MassCritical Mass
Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. The purpose of Critical Mass is not usually formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and...
bicycle ride started here at the same time, and in addition, a group marched back into downtown Washington DC from here. The Black Bloc made a good showing here as well, congregating near the center of the circle. Police, who arrived after the event had already begun, parked their motorcycles across the street from Dupont Circle. Additionally, a number of people remained at Dupont Circle for some time after the Critical Mass riders had left, and after the marchers left.
Demonstrations outside inaugural balls
Washington Convention Center
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C. owned and operated by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority . Designed by Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, the convention center is located in a...
, the Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
Wardman Park Hotel, the Washington Hilton, the National Building Museum
National Building Museum
The National Builders Museum, in Washington, D.C., United States, is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning"...
, and Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
.
Outside Union Station, where the Freedom Ball was being held, a group organized by Code Pink
Code Pink
Code Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
was outside demonstrating. The group outside Union Station was composed of many individuals seen at other counter-inaugural events earlier in the day, and the mood was initially festive. As participants in the inaugural balls arrived to enter, demonstrators would chant, "SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!" at them. Some demonstrators also shouted, "TOGA! TOGA!" at some of the participants, poking fun at the movie Animal House. There were several confrontations between ball participants and demonstrators, including one where a demonstrator and a participant got into a fight. In the end, the ball participant was admitted to the event, and the demonstrator was detained but was not arrested and let go minutes later.
March through Adams Morgan neighborhood
Following the counter-inaugural ball, a group marched through the Adams MorganAdams Morgan
Adams Morgan is a culturally diverse neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road. Adams Morgan is considered the center of Washington's Hispanic immigrant community, and is a major night life area with many bars and restaurants,...
neighborhood in Washington in an impromptu protest headed for one of the inaugural ball sites at the Washington Hilton Hotel. A few of the marchers wore masks and carried torches. A handful spray-painted buildings with the anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
symbol and broke windows of a police car and a bank. A police roadblock directed the group into a maze of alleys where officers rounded up about six dozen marchers who were not engaged in vandalism; they were pepper-sprayed, detained, and jailed overnight. Charges were later dropped. A police report described the event. Lawyers from the ACLU and the law firms Gaffney & Schember and Kirkland & Ellis represented the group in a class-action lawsuit filed against the District of Columbia. On August 1, 2011, Judge Ellen Huvelle
Ellen Segal Huvelle
Ellen Segal Huvelle is a federal judge sitting in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She has overseen several significant cases...
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
gave final approval for a settlement in which the District of Columbia agreed to pay $250,000 and expunge the arrest records of a class of about 70 people.
See also
- Protests against the 2003 Iraq war
- Code PinkCode PinkCode Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
- ANSWER CoalitionA.N.S.W.E.R.Act Now to Stop War and End Racism , also known as International A.N.S.W.E.R. and the ANSWER Coalition, is a United States-based protest umbrella group consisting of many antiwar and civil rights organizations...
- Black blocBlack blocA black bloc is a tactic for protests and marches, whereby individuals wear black clothing, scarves, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing items...
- Protest WarriorProtest WarriorProtest Warrior was a conservative political activist group. It was formed in 2003 by Alan Lipton and Kfir Alfia in Austin, Texas. The group is primarily known for organizing counter-protests in favor of the Iraq war...
- List of protest marches on Washington, DC
- Inauguration Day
- Turn Your Back on BushTurn Your Back on BushTurn Your Back on Bush was a form of protest in the United States to express dissatisfaction with former President George W. Bush. The first known protest took place on June 14, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio where President Bush delivered a commencement address to the graduating class of Ohio State...