[NYTr] Arrest Numbers Climbing to 160+; Rightwing Bloggers Foaming at Keyboards

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[The Right-Wing bloggers are positively afoam with rage and indignation
over today's protest.  HOWLS are coming from the the Creepy Freepers.
They're clearly all on assignment, told to smear and rant about
ANSWER (the organizers), and especially about the antiwar
military vets and families of dead occupation troops such as Cindy
Sheehan who took part in today's march and echoed ANSWER's call to SHUT
THE CITY DOWN. -NY Transfer

AP - Sep 15, 2007 8:03 PM EDT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_WAR_PROTEST?SITE=MSJAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

More than 160 arrested at Iraq protest

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several thousand protesters marched Saturday from
the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war, and at
least 160 people were arrested when they jumped a barricade at the foot
of the Capitol steps.

Many of the protesters were arrested without a struggle after they
jumped over the waist-high barricade. But some grew angry as police
attempted to push them back using large shields. At least two people
were showered with chemical spray. Protesters responded by throwing
signs and chanting: "Shame on you."

The arrests came after protesters initially decided to lay down on the
Capitol lawn with signs on top of their bodies to represent soldiers
killed in Iraq. When police took no action, some of the protesters
decided to start climbing over the barricade.

Before arriving at the Capitol lawn, the demonstrators marched on
Pennsylvania Avenue holding banners and signs and saying, "What do we
want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."

Counterprotesters lined the sidewalks behind metal barricades. There
were some heated shouting matches between the two sides.

The protesters gathered earlier Saturday near the White House in
Lafayette Park with signs saying "End the war now" and calling for
President Bush's impeachment. The rally was organized by the ANSWER
Coalition and other groups.

Organizers estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the rally
and march. That number could not be confirmed; police did not give
their own estimate. But there appeared to be tens of thousands of
people in attendance, and the march stretched along multiple blocks of
Pennsylvania Avenue.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan told the crowd is was time to be
assertive.

"It's time to lay our bodies on the line and say we've had enough," she
said. "It's time to shut this city down."

Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, of Lawton, Okla., was among a
contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.

"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of
Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies
from the 60s who are against this war."

About 13 blocks away, nearly 1,000 counterprotesters gathered near the
Washington Monument, frequently erupting in chants of "U-S-A" and
waving American flags.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, speaking from a
stage to crowds clad in camouflage, American flag bandanas and Harley
Davidson jackets, said he wanted to send three messages.

"Congress, quit playing games with our troops. Terrorists, we will find
you and kill you," he said. "And to our troops, we're here for you, and
we support you."

[Associated Press writer Christine Simmons contributed to this report.]

© 2007 The Associated Press.