Anti-war, pro-Marine confrontation begins early in Berkeley

Anti-war, pro-Marine confrontation begins early in Berkeley

Anti-war, pro-Marine confrontation begins early in Berkeley
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 02/12/2008 08:05:29 AM PST

A pre-dawn confrontation broke out this morning in Berkeley between peace activists and pro military groups, more than 12 hours before the City Council considers to rescind its statement telling the U.S. Marines they're unwelcome in this left-leaning town.

Police were forced to form a line between the two groups to keep them apart shortly after 6 a.m. at the park across Martin Luther King Jr. Way from old City Hall, where the City Council meets.

An hour and a half later, the shouting continued, but there had been no arrests, a police dispatcher said.

The Berkeley City Council tonight is scheduled to revisit the council's Jan. 29 approval of a resolution calling the U.S.

Marines' recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." The vote was 6-3 in favor.

Honking, hooting and hollering was the sound of the morning commute today on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley.

Code Pink, a women's peace organization, supporters shouted "We are the true patriots" through blowhorns, while pro-military organization Move America Forward supporters yelled back "We're all-American."

The divide between the two groups was only six feet, the distance of roadway separating the screams and cries of outrage at each other's views.

The signs waving in the air mimic the protesters' chants. "Support victory, surrender is not an option," adorned one sign of the pro-military groups, while "You can't attend college in a body bag" could be seen on one carried by their opposition.
Heide Unger, a Move America Forward activist, traveled from Gilroy to take part in the activities.

"I should have brought some garlic to ward off the evil from Code Pink," she said. Unger carried a bronze Civil War medal in her back pocket that belonged to her great-great grandfather. Her walker was partially hidden under her flag and red, white and blue sweaters.

"I support the federal government and the Marine Corps," Unger said. "The Code Pink people grabbed my wrist and tried to pull down my flag earlier this morning, but I didn't let go."

Berkeley resident Bill Newton, 59, came from work at UC Berkeley to see the commotion.

"I had to walk over here to check it out," Newton said. "Frankly I think the City Council is pretty stupid. But the war is pretty stupid too."

Police officers were watching both sides to keep things from taking a violent turn. Oakland resident Becky Lyman, 37, a Code Pink activist, has camped out in front of the old City Hall since Monday night. Coffee in her hand, she said she feels like both sides want a common goal: the best thing for the country.

"We have opposing ways of approaching that," Lyman said.
"Bring our soldiers back now," she yelled.

"Killing is not the answer," she screamed.

Last week's 6-3 vote by the Berkeley council caused a nationwide backlash against the city, prompting Republicans in Washington and Sacramento to introduce legislation to take away money for things like school lunches and police communications equipment.

Just about every City Council meeting in Berkeley includes protesters who show support or disdain for whatever is on the agenda.

But tonight, the city is likely to host the mother of all meetings in its recent history. Councilman Gordon Wozniak, who opposed the council's actions two weeks ago on the recruiting station, said he received 26,000 e-mails on the subject in the past 10 days (24,000 supporting the Marines, 2,000 against), and he is just one of nine council members.

"On a hot issue, we sometimes get a couple hundred e-mails," Wozniak said. "I've never seen anything like this. I'm getting one every five minutes. It's huge."

Today's protests could bring upwards of 500 people from both sides. And hundreds of union members also are expected at the meeting to protest a separate item seeking to regulate a local steel foundry.

To accommodate tonight's expected crowd of protesters and reporters, the city will broadcast the meeting outside on speakers.

Move America Forward is already unhappy with what council members are not planning to do - rescinding four other items the council passed that are seen as a swipe at the Marines. Those items asked the city attorney to investigate whether the Marines are violating city law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation; urged people to 'impede' the recruiting work of the Marines in Berkeley; and gave Code Pink a free parking space and sound permit to protest once a week in front of the recruiting station.

The proposal by council members Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli to rescind the item sending the Marines a letter asking them to leave is No. 25 of 28 items on tonight's agenda, and could come up for debate near midnight. What's more, pro-military supporters will have to sit through another item likely to make them seethe: urging Canada to provide sanctuary for U.S. military war resisters.

"Our organization has taken a stand that the council needs to apologize and rescind all the resolutions," said Danny Gonzalez, communications director for Move America Forward. "We can only hope that one of the council members has the sense to make a change and re-evaluate their stance on all the issues."

By only rescinding the one item, the council, in effect, is still "attempting to get the Marines to leave," Gonzalez said.

"They're just trying to get the heat off, and that's not going to work," Gonzalez said. "It's empty; it's not a genuine apology."
Code Pink is going to the meeting to thank the council for its actions against the recruiting station.

"We're so pleased the council is taking a strong stand for peace, and we intend to be there in full force to let them know we support them," said Zanne Joi, a Code Pink activist. "We trust the council will not be swayed by this vicious right-wing attack."

Joi said the reaction by people across the country angry the council asked the Marines to leave town shows the tide of public sentiment has long since turned against the war in Iraq.

"This violent reaction of the pro-war forces shows how threatened they are by a small group of people working against recruitment," Joi said. "They claim the Marines fought for our freedom of speech, and how dare we use our freedom of speech against them."