Another Poorly Executed Protest March
This “Stop The War” protest took place just 6 weeks after a similar one. The last one attracted approximately 150-200 protesters; this one did slightly better, but was not worth the resources the city spent to block off streets and to provide security, etc.
At 11:10 am I took Isis for a walk and ran into a traffic cop who was waitiing to direct traffic at 2nd and Main. I asked him when crowd would be coming by as I didn’t want to get mixed up in it. He said in “about an hour”. Then, up at Main and Temple, they had Temple St. blocked off between Main and Los Angeles, filled with tents/booths, and were doing a sound check on the stage. I asked another traffic cop what he expected and he seemed somewhat bummed that he was there- saying the protesters were supposed to be there by now but had not started marching yet. And he made a comment about how the march 6 weeks earlier had only attracted 200 people (I had heard 150). He clearly thought his time was being wasted.
So I walk Isis all through the Alvera St. area, up by Phillipe’s, and then back home at noon, and still no sign of protest march, but I did see that Spring St. was closed and some LADOT trucks and motorcycles were going the wrong way on Spring, getting ready for the oncoming wave of people.
At a little after 2pm, the march finally passes by my loft going north on Spring St.- a first for any protest I’ve seen. There was barely 1 1/2 blocks of people- much less than the “Midnight Ridazz” bike ride Friday night. I would estimate 1000 people at the most (I think the press release for the event says “10,000 - 20,000″, but police say about 700- STOP THE WAR site). I can only assume that the event was so late in getting started as they were waiting for more marchers.
I am all for cutting our losses, saving money for use closer to home, and bringing the troops home, but I still support the troops 100%. And I hate to see our tax dollars spent having dozens of city employees waiting around with streets closed, for a very small crowd.
Here’s a couple pics and a short movie of the protest going north on Spring St.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3-SY4zgxj4&rel=1]