2005 George Bush Inauguration Protest Video "Mandate?" Premieres at the Time's Up Bike Space
On Thursday, February 3rd at 7 PM, "Mandate?" will make its New York City premiere at the Time's Up Bike Space at 49 East Houston St. (between Mott & Mulberry).
(PRWEB) January 30, 2005 -- "Check Point "Dubya" is a clip from "Mandate?" a half hour documentary video of the Washington, DC 2005 Bush Inauguration protests from DC IMC, NYC IMC, and the Glass Bead Collective.
Check Point "Dubya" focuses on constitutional violations by security forces and the brutal over use of pepper spray at the 14th & Penn parade check point.
Check Point "Dubya" and the Mandate? trailer can be viewed at the following link
http://www.Fluxview.com/v/Fluxview-News-Video-2005.htm
'Mandate?', shows resistance at the January 20th inauguration of George W. Bush. The film shows the issues behind the re-election of Bush and the reaction from protestors to the most expensive inauguration in US history.
For more information, e-mail mediablitz @ riseup . net
A Raging Granny's view
http://www.windchimewalker.com/-webpages/J20-journal.html
As a 62 year-old Raging Granny who uses a disability scooter to get around, my experiences of the J20 Counter Inaugural activities in Washington, DC on Bush's Inauguration Day will surely be different from those of my younger activist sisters and brothers who are always more at risk of beng pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed, beaten with police batons and hosed down with water cannons than I.
But I did see a young man with red, teary eyes at the Metro station soon after the conclusion of Bush's imperial parade. He told me he'd been standing five persons back from the security fence at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when a policeman pepper-sprayed him directly in the face. He went on to say, "My only 'crime' was to put up my hand and give that police officer a peace sign." He said that protesters in front of him had been rattling the security fence to make more noise. Then things turned nasty.
And now I see photos posted on Indymedia.org of the police pepper-spraying, tear-gassing and water cannon-hosing protesters in what might have been the same incident or another like it. In the photos it is clear that a section of the barricade had been torn down and apparently the police were responding to that "breach of security." I guess if I'd been near that section of the fence, even an old Granny like me would have been in the line of fire.
It's amazing how quickly one gets used to a police state mentality.
Shouldn't we be appalled that we citizens of a supposedly "free" country have to go through armed checkpoints to get within a block of where we might see our president ride by in his bullet-proof, security guard-surrounded limousine on his Inauguration Day?
Shouldn't we question the need for snipers positioned on every roof along his Inaugural Parade Route? And the presence of military helicopters hovering overhead?
And what about women like Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Diane Wilson, co-founders of Code Pink, being arrested for daring to sit in the VIP bleachers and then stand up on their chairs as George W passed by and yell "Bring the troops home!" while holding up banners with "No War", "Out of Iraq Now", and "Bush Mandate: Troops Home Now" printed on them? What is the crime in that? They were doing exactly what we protesters were doing down on the street; I guess their "crime" was making Bush's big money donors uncomfortable.
These things should make our skin crawl.
I've now learned (three days later) that the checkpoint I went through at 12th Street was closed down immediately after we Raging Grannies had made our way through. They say young protesters "stormed" the white checkpoint tent after having waited patiently--I personally SAW them waiting patiently--for over an hour to get through security in time to see and respond to Bush-on-parade. Now I know why the security folks suddenly started running around and screaming for us to get out of the way.
But except for that unexplained weird behavior by the security personnel and meeting the young man with pepper-sprayed eyes, my personal experience of this J20 Counter Inaugural day was positive.
The line stretched at least a block and was 10 persons-wide. Three guys in Army fatigues guarded the entrance to the white tent where the security checks were being held. It was extremely slow going with one person being let in at a time. S/He was patted down by a woman or man (depending on the person's gender), then had to open their coat, and have all their bags and pockets checked for "dangerous" items. There was a long list of banned items including backpacks and poles such as those used for our Raging Grannies banner.
You had to believe the security personnel were deliberately moving slowly because everyone in this line was obviously a protester.
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