Activists pursue inauguration space

Originally published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 18, 2004 Saturday

Copyright 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  
 

By Bob Dart

Washington --- Antiwar activists charged Friday that the Bush administration is attempting to "privatize Pennsylvania Avenue" by reserving the inaugural parade route for political contributors and keeping protesters off "America's Main Street."

But they said thousands of demonstrators from around the nation will show up early on Inauguration Day anyway and will claim the sidewalks to show the passing President Bush and a watching world that they object to "an unprovoked war of aggression" in Iraq.

"It is lawful to come to the parade," declared Mara Veheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer for the Partnership for Civil Justice, one of the protest groups. "Everyone has a right to be there."

The antiwar "counter-inaugural" is being organized by ANSWER --- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. Brian Becker, the national coordinator, said the coalition of liberal groups was formed shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in anticipation of the Bush administration using terrorism as an excuse "to carry out a previously planned, aggressive, right-wing, militaristic foreign policy."

The organizers said they had asked the National Park Service for permits for protest space along the parade route. They said their requests had been delayed and, in some spots, effectively denied in order to accommodate the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

The privately funded committee is raising about $40 million to pay for the parade, inaugural balls and other events, and it plans to erect bleachers for some paying supporters along the route.

Bill Wine, a spokesman for the National Park Service, denied the group's claim.

"We have had discussions with ANSWER and a number of other groups. Nothing has been finalized yet," he said. In fact, he said, the Park Service sent ANSWER a letter on Wednesday "that said, indeed, we expect a permit will be issued for designated portions of Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalks."

"The inauguration is on Jan. 20, and it's not even Dec. 20 yet," Wine said. "It is expected that a lot of permits will be finalized in the next two or three weeks."