Below is an A.N.S.W.E.R. statement on the mass convergance on the parade route of the Bush's inaugural:

Before that though some of my favorite moments of the day:

The Rebpublican ticket holders for the swearing in at the Capitol had to walk through the A.N.S.W.E.R. convergence to get further up Pennsylvania Avenue to their paid for bleacher seats. It was worth standing standing in line for 2 hours to go through the security check-point (Cynthia McKinney was in line for 4 hours waiting to get into the A.N.S.W.E.R. convergence site and she is a Congresswoman) just to see the looks of fear on their faces and to hear them say "I never want to do that again".

Even with all the hassle the organizers got and the services they were denied the rally and convergence came off beautifully. The secret service insisted at the last minute that A.N.S.W.E.R. had to hire security guards for the bleachers over night (both the 19th and 20th) and that they couldn't have a warming tent for the protesters. The Parks department refused to put portable toilets at 4th and Pennsylvania while the Republican areas had plenty. A.N.S.W.E.R. was not allowed to spread salt in order to melt the snow under the protesters feet in order to keep folks at least a little warmer. Despite that A.N.S.W.E.R. had hand and foot warmers available for those who came and local restaurants opened their bathrooms to protesters.

I loved the open Mic that allowed Marie Massey an 80 year old African-American woman who rode on one of the buses from Chicago to participate in her first protest ever a chance to speak. She expressed her reasons for coming. Andy Thayer who had just spoken to represent DontAmend.com and the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism introduced Marie and told folks that there was definately hope when someone like Marie would ride a bus for 15 hours and withstand the cold in order to protest the Bush regime.

Also as part of the open Mic city after city got up and pledged to organize demonstrations on March 19/20. There are going to be demos in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Oswego, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson, San Francisco, New Paltz, New York City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, D.C., Cincinnatti and many more cities that I can't remember. However, I do remember that Sylvia Kareemah and Bill Massey jointly announced that there would be one in Chicago.

Another very exciting moment came at the end of the convergance when less than a dozen Protest Warriors came with their signs. The A.N.S.W.E.R organizers who were cleaning up the site surrounded the group and intimidated them from being able to display their signs. Based on the looks of confustion on their faces, I think they thought they were going to get beat but that would have given the police an excuse to arrest counter-innaugural protesters. Instead the police led the Protest Warriors away to safety. Joeff Davis got some great shots of this action that I hope he shares with Indymedia. Oddly enough the Mooney paper the Washington Times said that A.N.S.W.E.R. had gotten rid of at least 50 Protest Warriors.

Now for the A.N.S.W.E.R. statement:

Over 10,000 antiwar protestors at A.N.S.W.E.R. Mass Convergence site on Inaugural Parade route between 3rd & 4th St. on Pennsylvania Ave.

Thousands of other protestors blocked at Secret Service Checkpoints

It is because of the support of so many people from around the country in the last few weeks that the A.N.S.W.E.R. antiwar mass rally on the inaugural parade route today was so successful. The rally was broadcast live on C-Span 2 for 4 hours and 25 minutes.

Over 10,000 protestors from around the country converged on John Marshall Park in Washington DC today bringing a powerful antiwar message to the presidential inauguration of George Bush. Demonstrators filled the sidewalks in front of the park between 3rd and 4th Streets. The first thing that Bush saw as the presidential motorcade began the parade route was antiwar protestors lined 10 deep along the side walks and in antiwar bleachers.

Atop the bleachers was a giant banner that said, "Iraq is Bush’s Vietnam, Bring the Troops Home Now." It was the first time in inaugural history that the antiwar movement was able to have bleachers, a stage, and a sound system for a mass antiwar demonstration right on the parade route.

Thousands more demonstrators stopped at the A.N.S.W.E.R. rally site and picked up signs and were able to line both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue from 3rd to 7th Streets.

Although the parade route filled up with anti-Bush demonstrators, many thousands more protestors were stopped at security checkpoints and not allowed into the A.N.S.W.E.R. rally. North of the check point at 3rd and C Sts. (the closest check point to the A.N.S.W.E.R. rally) a full block-and-a-half of people were held back. A similar scene was repeated at other check points. People held spontaneous demonstrations at the check points, chanting and holding banners.

Our partial victory in attaining a space for a mass assembly protest along the inaugural parade route was the result of a year-long political and legal struggle. Attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild filed litigation that played a vital role. There will be a future update on this work.

Washington, DC
January 20, 2005

Antiwar bleachers at 4th St. & Pennsylvania Ave. On the sidewalks at 4th St. & Pennsylvania Ave.

Speakers included: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia; former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg; Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition; John Boyd of the National Black Farmers Association; Brenda Stokley, President of District Council 7017 AFSCME; Zack Wolfe, chair of the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Committee of the National Lawyers Guild; Macrina Cardenas, Mexico Solidarity Network; Vanessa Dixon, DC Health Care Coalition; Sue Neiderer, mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq; Celeste Zappala, mother of Sherwood Baker, National Guardsmen killed in Iraq; and Nathlie Hrizi of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five and others. The program was chaired by A.N.S.W.E.R. youth and student organizers Peta Lindsay and Eugene Puryear.

January 20 antiwar protests were also held in other cities throughout the United States, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Phoenix, and other cities. There were also demonstrations in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Australia and Puerto Rico.

At the rally in Washington DC today, organizers from 30 cities took the platform to announce their plans to organize local demonstrations on March 19, 2005, the second anniversary of the start of the U.S. "shock and awe" invasion of Iraq.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info (at) internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-533-0417
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-878-0166