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Members
of St. Pete for Peace and Veterans for
Peace Tampa Bay made a bold statement against politicians who support
war by demonstrating against Hillary Clinton at her appearance for a
Florida Democratic Party fundraiser at the Wyndham Westshore Hotel, in
Tampa. About forty demonstrators lined the street in front of
the
hotel holding banners and signs condemning Sen. Clinton’s vote to
authorize war in Iraq, her continued support for the occupation and her
refusal to call for an immediate U.S. withdrawal. [For more
on why we protested Sen.
Clinton, click here]
Several
media organizations dropped by the demonstration on their way to the
fundraiser to take pictures, talk to participants and get footage (the
young protestor dressed as a torture victim from Abu Gharib really
grabbed the attention of the press). Reporters were also on hand
to
record some of the encounters between protestors and Democratic Party
supporters who came to see Hillary. Conversations became heated
at
times with some attendees even mistaking the protest as a pro-Bush
gathering. Others understood the implications immediately, but
still
defended politicians like Hillary, Al Gore and John Kerry as being the
lesser of two evils. One demonstrator asked if those people would
pick
Bush over Hitler, and what the difference would be.
Many conservatives responded negatively to the anti-war message, but
some republicans were surprised, quite pleasantly, that an anti-war
demonstration would be held against such a popular democrat.
Overall
support for the message was very strong and came from a diverse
background of people.
As the reception inside the hotel wound down and media and guests began
leaving demonstrators were still waiting outside for Hillary’s
departure. Eventually, the police led an empty SUV from the lobby
driveway around the building to a rear entrance to pick up the
senator. About a dozen protestors followed and arrived just in
time to
intercept the departing convoy carrying Hillary and greet her with
signs, banners and chants of, “Hillary, we know you… Your husband was a
killer, too” as she was driven off in a black SUV (guess Hillary likes
those things, too).
We would like to thank everyone who came out Saturday to help voice a
very simple, but very important message on this election year, “We will
not vote for those who vote for war.” It was a concept that many
passers-by seemed to quickly grasp. And if people in our society
who
want to stop war incorporate this idea into their own set of civic
values, share the principle with their friends and family, and reflect
their ethics at the polls it could really make a change. Perhaps
it
won’t transform the political parties, but it could empower people to
reflect more deeply and to act more decisively upon their own
democratic ideals.
It should also be noted that the Tampa Police on the scene were
generally very professional and courteous, even in the few instances
they had to do their jobs, and they allowed us full access to public
areas. It is interesting to consider why we do not get the same
kind
of treatment and cooperation from the police when we’re trying to
protest George Bush.
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E-mail: info@stpeteforpeace.org
