This one is almost unintentionally funny. See BOLD portions. :lol:
Demonstrators and cops struggled over control of the streets of New York yesterday on a day of chaos and defiance that ended with nearly 1,000 arrests.
It was madness as bands of rowdy demonstrators roamed by foot and bike to more than a dozen spots around Manhattan, bent on disrupting the Republican National Convention.
“Go home! Go home!” protesters taunted GOP delegates, while others cursed the visitors.
There was a melee outside the New York Public Library when cops stopped two women from unfurling a banner over one of the lions. Scores of protesters were netted near Ground Zero and more were bottled up in Union Square.
But cops’ biggest confrontation came when dozens opposed to President Bush and the Iraq war defiantly stepped off the curb in Herald Square around dusk and staged a “die-in,” blocks from the GOP fest at Madison Square Garden.
Cops on mountain bikes swooped down on the demonstrators there and farther south, at Broadway and 28th St., where more protesters staged yet a second die-in.
Some of the rebels chained themselves together in Herald Square and chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
Cops ordered the surging crowd back while thugs set garbage fires. “The NYPD needs to learn the First Amendment,” Mike Johns, 26, of Brooklyn, yelled when a cop shoved him.
“Shut up!” the cop barked.
A Republican delegate wearing a Stars-and-Stripes top hat emerged from Macy’s with horror etched on her face. “Omigod, how do I get to the Garden?” she asked an officer.
“Good luck, lady,” he replied.
The hapless woman fled as demonstrators jeered, “Go back to Kansas!”
Nearby, a hooded protester tried to rush onto the outdoor stage used by MSNBC while Chris Matthews hosted “Hardball.” But cops tackled him and the show went on.
Meanwhile, cops chased the fleeing hooligans and herded them into side streets along Fifth and Sixth Aves., where they were captured by other officers.
Police also liberated a busload of Louisiana delegates, whose path to the Garden was blocked by demonstrators.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the NYPD is bracing for more trouble tomorrow, when President Bush makes his acceptance speech.
“You break the law, you’re going to find yourself arrested,” warned Mayor Bloomberg, who closely monitored the mayhem.
For much of yesterday, a coalition of groups called A31 - for Aug. 31 - played cat and mouse with cops, using text messages to plot their next move.
They weren’t aiming for a massive show of protest, like Sunday’s peaceful march. They were aiming to cause havoc.
Downtown, 500 protesters set off from north of Ground Zero to stage a die-in by the Garden. But cops stopped them just as they got started.
“You’re all under arrest!” a lieutenant yelled as cops used plastic orange netting to snare confused protesters.
“Let us disperse!” the protesters cried. When that didn’t work, two women took off their tops and began chanting, “Cops deserve a raise!”
That did not sway police.
At the Fox News Channel studios in midtown, police penned 1,000 demonstrators staging a “shut-up-athon” against the network. “Fox lies, people die,” they chanted.
It was all a little too much for Wisconsin delegate Karen Church, who was confronted by demonstrators demanding, “Who would Jesus bomb?”
Outside the Sotheby’s auction house, 100 black-clad demonstrators picketed the Tennessee delegation, members of which were bidding on the Johnny Cash estate.
“It’s totally wrong for the Republicans to use Johnny Cash for their little party,” said Brandon Jourdan, 25, of Manhattan. “I grew up in North Carolina and listened to his songs for the poor and beaten-down. The Republicans are the ones doing the beating down.”
Originally published on September 1, 2004
