remembering feb 15, 2003, when millions around the world protested the upcoming war in iraq

and the city in which I live was one of TWO in the entire world where those protestors were tear-gassed.

. . . .

Two of 603
An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people from across - Colorado converged on Palmer Park for the peace - rally. - Drew Wyeth

* Drew Wyeth
* An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people from across Colorado converged on Palmer Park for the peace rally.

Colorado Springs was one of 603 cities on all seven continents that staged events as part of the International Day of Protest against the impending war in Iraq last weekend. There was even a protest outside McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

Yet among the hundreds of demonstrations, many of which attracted crowds in excess of 1 million, Colorado Springs (where the crowd was estimated at 3,000-4,000) was one of only two cities worldwide where police were compelled to use this degree of force.

In Colorado Springs, tear gas was used on demonstrators for "failure to disperse," Arms said. In Athens, Greece, where 50,000 people gathered in anti-war solidarity, tear gas was deployed when demonstrators threw stones and gasoline bombs at riot police.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Police Chief Luis Velez defended the force. According to Velez, on Saturday, 150 protesters refused to clear the street necessitating the use of gas. Members of the group, he said, jumped on cars and harassed passing motorists.

. . . .

http://www.csindy.com/colorado/crowd-control/Content?oid=1117996


Police Crack Down On Anti-War Protesters From New York to Colorado Springs to San Francisco
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"People have a right to protest; people can say what they think." Those were the words of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Sunday, the day after millions protested against George Bush’s plans to launch a first-strike attack on Iraq.


But across the country demonstrators questioned how much of a right they still have to protest.

In New York the Justice Department teamed with the NYPD to deny protest organizers a march permit. They cited national security. Once the protest began on Saturday unknown tens of thousands of demonstrators were penned in by police blocks from the stage. Many never saw the stage or heard a speaker. Some 300 people were arrested.

United for Peace and Justice organizers are holding a press conference to discuss the reports of rampant police misconduct.

In Colorado Springs anti-war protesters are blasting local police for using riot gear, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse participants as a peace demonstration was winding down on Saturday. But according to a report in today’s Denver Post, police maintain the response was appropriate.

And in San Francisco 46 demonstrators were arrested. Five remain this morning in police custody.

http://www.democracynow.org/2003/2/18/police_crack_down_on_anti_war

I remember the streets of San Francisco being choked with people protesting the upcoming war.