Protesting for a change

Joe Trudeau

Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 2, marked the first anniversary of Bush’s re-election. As one might learn to expect of any such landmark, a protest was in order. Students from all over the Puget Sound area gathered at Westlake to show their determination to “drive out the bush regime”. Students from Shoreline Community College congregated in the courtyard to promote awareness of the event; meanwhile some members of The Rebel Alliance (a campus club) went from classroom to classroom, encouraging students to ditch class and join the cause. By the end of the Shoreline Rally they had gathered an audience of about 100, though only 8 left campus to go to the actual event.

Upon arrival, SCC students learned that they were going to play a significant role in the protests. They were asked to change into orange jump suits, to represent the torture victims of the War on Terrorism, they were asked to hold one of 4 high-flying green banners. SCC’s sign was the closest to the front of the march. This, along with the orange jump suits attracted many photographers, reporters, and questions.

15 minutes before the main rally started at Westlake, tension between cops and protesters had already started to brew. “There’s almost as many cops as there are protesters”, one angry participant claimed. By the time the rally started it became apparent that many more would be joining the police on duty for this event. Likewise, many more protesters came during and throughout the rally. At the end of the day those responsible for holding the event were convinced that 2 1/2 to 3 thousand protesters had attended.

The march was generally very peaceful, but that’s not to say the participants and police got along with each other. There were at least 2 arrests made for seemingly trivial issues. After protesters were directed out of the streets and onto the sidewalks, a transgender biker named Fetish was asked to take his bike off the street. He then rode his bike on the sidewalk, only to be arrested for it. A friend of his stepped up to advocate for him; he was then asked for identification, and when he didn’t provide it he was arrested as well. One photographer claimed he was pushed out of the way by police when the event occurred. Police did not respond to questioning on this event, or any other.

At Capitol Hill, the march went through the halls of Central Seattle Community College. They also took to the streets without permission, marching down 4 blocks of Broadway and interfering with of traffic until police forced them off the road with their vehicles.