Dissent On Parade: Rose Parade Demonstrations

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.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high after a breakdown last week in negotiations to develop a city-sanctioned human rights march for those opposed to religious and political oppression in China and the float celebrating the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Following months of criticism from several groups, the Tournament of Roses began closed-door talks with chief organizer John Li for an event immediately preceding the parade that would give float critics — including Tibetan and Burmese Americans, local Falun Gong practitioners and organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International — an outlet for expression.

Police rejected many of Li’s demands for the human rights procession, citing logistical and security concerns, but offered scaled-back options that included a press conference or a loosely organized march on foot that would not allow amplified sound.

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

Of course we know.

They are afraid the truth will be told enough times and awaken people to rise up.

So they have to pay hired bullies and those who are unconscious to play "authority" and arrest people who are actually trying to save the country.

Rather bass ackwards is it not?

I remember there was a protest a few years back, I believe it was about animal rights, but I'm not sure. Protesters walked out onto the parade route (at the beginning, where all the cameras are) and ran around one of the floats, but they only appeard on-screen for a couple of seconds - the TV stations and networks covering the parade quickly switched to other shots showing other entries or showing the announcers - effectively censoring the protestors. I saw it live, but it all happened so fast that I had no idea what the protest was even about until I read about it the next day. So the chances of getting any significant message onto the airwaves is pretty slim.

There's a time and place for everything, and this is neither the time nor the place for this activity.

I support the efforts of each of these groups and have participated and given money to several, but the Parade is not a place I'd like to see these protests. Our City and the surrounding communities work very hard to make this a pleasant event for people from all over the world to enjoy without ideology or personal causes. That's what the Doo Dah is for.

The police will not tolerate this and will probably get real ugly---there will be hundreds of them--making our causes look really bad.

I really hope they don't do anything rash.

I don't think it will sway anyone, in fact I think it will harm the anti-war movement. The general public will react badly to it.

We need the multitudes to join us, not lose the message because of the outrage. I would wish Cindy not to do that...

People have a difficult time listening when you scream at them, and protesting during the Rose Parade would be the equivalent of just that.

Back during the Battle in Seattle, most of the groups participating in the protest were vocal, were loud, but they didn't cause any problems.

It was primarily the freaking pretend anarchists, whose main goal is to disrupt whatever event they are at. There were some who didn't know what the World Bank was, there were others who said, "huh?" when asked about the WTO. They weren't there as honest protesters; they were there to disrupt things, destroy property, and agitate things to the point where we ended up in a riot.

I'm not saying that Sheehan and the others are pretend anarchists; I believe they are serious about their causes. But in the end, if they do this, if they get drug out of there, or whatever, THAT is what people are going to remember, not the message they tried to bring.

TV viewers won't see it, and it would only piss off those who went to considerable time, effort, money, and trouble to see the parade in person. Bad idea.