Police arrest 17 protesters blocking San Francisco intersection

By Aimee Strain, Bay City News Service

March 20, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - Seventeen anti-war protesters were arrested by San Francisco police this morning after blocking an intersection at Market and Montgomery streets.

Nine females and eight males were taken into custody after they allegedly stood in the street around 8:15 a.m. today, according to police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens.

Gittens said the protesters were told to not to block the intersection and were placed under arrest after failing to adhere to the police orders. It took about 30 minutes before the intersection was cleared.

Members of the group Act Against Torture organized the protest, which was set to begin at 7 a.m. outside U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office.

The protest was scheduled to mark the third anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

According to Berkeley resident Kate Raphael, an organizer with Act Against Torture, there were about 300 protesters at the demonstration, many of which were donning orange prison suits to signify "what this war is doing to us as well as everybody around the world."

When the demonstrators blocking the intersection were arrested, Raphael said, "it was really kind of chilling in a way to watch those already in prison suits being led away . . . it really had the effect we were hoping to have.''

The grassroots group, organized predominantly through word of mouth, chose to hold its protest in front of Feinstein's office to make the senator aware of people's feelings of disempowerment and hope that she "live up to her legislative responsibility to promote policies of justice and human rights," Raphael said.

"People aren't quite getting that we really have the obligation to stop our government from doing what their doing . . . We believe that people need to do more than just be against it," Raphael said.

There were minor traffic implications, but traffic was diverted a block or two in each direction in preparation of the demonstration, according to Gittens.

The intersection is cleared at this time.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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