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On Saturday, M22, citizens of Eugene once more took to the streets to express outrage and saddness at the illicit Bush regime decision to go to war. A march from the University of Oregon preceeded a 12AM U.S. Federal Building rally drew between 500 -- 1000 anti-war protestors, plus 7 pro-war demonstrators (the Eugene Register Guard newspaper tomorrow will no doubt focus on interviews of the pro-war side, although to interview all 7 of them they would have to re-interview one who was a repeater from Thursday, March 20).

The arrival of "shock and awe" bombing, as well as the corporate media's coverage of the war, a virtual lock-step cheerleading for the 1000 missle Blitzkeig, with heavily censored anti-war news, in particular arroused anger. But also, many protestors interviewed expressed overwhelming sadness. Others, including Black Block demonstrators, discussed the need to find creative and continuing opposition to the war. Many noted the total censorship of dead and mutilated bodies on the video game "newshows", and the lack of photos of destroyed residential areas in media reports.
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Saturday 2pm Organizational Meeting From the open publishing newswire: MEETING 2PM AT PSU IN THE SMITH MEMORIAL UNION, THIRD FLOOR.
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Saturday 2pm Waterfront Park Protest
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4pm Saturday Pioneer Square Protest
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Sunday 3-4pm Play Dead Protest From the open publishing newswire: Participate in an hour of perfect silence in protest of the war in Iraq. Meet at the SW Park blocks between Main and Park Avenues. Musicians and non-musicians alike are encouraged to bring instruments to play at 4:00.
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Every Sunday 4pm Hollywood district protest From the open publishing newswire: Every Sunday and 4pm, Hollywood neighbors and and anyone else who is intereseted gather at the intersection of NE 42nd and Sandy Blvd. (near the Burger Bar) to protest the war.
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7 to 8 p.m. at 37th & Hawthorne, Candlelight Vigil From the open publishing newswire: Small group invites Bagdad Cafe/Hawthorne neighbors and friends to join ongoing sidewalk candlelight vigil. As we meet from 7 to 8 p.m. at 37th & Hawthorne, we echo Sunday night's (3/16) global vigil for peace and hope, keeping the light of reason burning. Nightly vigils will be held until further notice. Contact susipsych@yourjourneys.net for more info.
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From the open publishing newswire: Eugene activists call for mass mobilization against war, Saturday, March 22, to counter the illicit Bush war with "shock and awe" creative non-violent resistence. [ Read More... ]

According to the call-ins today from downtown, it seems that tonite's PPRC march was around a thousand people, and that it ended up coming back to Pioneer Square. A little after 7 o'clock the march left the square, started winding around every which way and ended up going the wrong way up Broadway. The cops seemed to be trying to mobilize to stop it, and they just kept bringing more and more cops as the crowd played cat and mouse with them and sat down in the intersection of SW 4th and Stark.

At this point more cops closed in, horse cops, bike cops, robocops, "every kind of cop imaginable"...The ice cream truck was brought out to send messages to disperse to the crowd, pepperspray began to fly and people started to be arrested.

Eventually, around 8 o'clock or so, the Morrison Bridge was shut down by kops and the entire area west of the bridge was filled with kops and vehicles horses bikes and motorcycles, "every kind of kop imaginable", closing many streets... The situation seemed to have deescelated by around quarter after 8. Not sure how many have been arrested. [ Newswire post ]

Eye-witness reports from the street:
5:40 so the PPRC rally happening right now is being flanked by bike cops and they are containing people to the sidewalk. one report is that they have illegally searched a person already.
6:48 Seems peaceful so far... some folks passing around the bullhorn and "not a huge amount of cops visible in the immediate area".
7:07 It's around 7 o'clock and the crowd of a few hundred has left the square and is heading down Morrison toward the waterfront, accompanied by lots of riot cops
7:17 The PPRC march of around a thousand ended up at Pioneer Square and has now left the square and has been winding and twisting all over the place for around 20 blocks.... The cops are trying to mobilize to stop it but so far it's still moving forward and is now headed the wrong way up Broadway!
7:33 The police are closing in, and have boxed everyone in w/ horses. The ice cream truck is out, telling everyone to clear out. Tons of RoboCops. One arrest has been seen by the person calling in, and no pepperspray has been seen by the caller at this point.
7:38 from SW 4th and Washington - Tear Gas is being sprayed, arrests and pepperspray. People have been sitting down at Stark & 4th.
8:05 Kops have shut the Morrison Bridge down. tons of all different kinds are all over the place, closing many blocks downtown. All the folks at SW 4th and Stark who were sitting in the intersection are believed to have been arrested (corporate news coverage seems to confirm this-- face down and cuffed) This caller has seen 10 or so people arrested so far, has not heard bullets fired at all. The situation seems to be deescalating.

[ Pics of today's rally ]

From the open publishing newswire: Let's keep the pressure up. Let's all show up at the Friday Rally, maybe turn it into a jail solidarity action. Now that the U.S. has begun its "shock and awe" bombing camapaign, we should kkep the pressure up. I know a lot of people don't like the PPRC's style, but this is the only action that is planned that I know of--let's make the most of it. [ Newswire item ]

Upcoming anti-war events: Eugene, Hood River, Monmouth, Salem and Yachats

There are many forms of protest.
Many people are referring to the PPRC march as lame. I realize that it was not action-packed, but can we please try to stay together on this? This is not a time for all of us who are against the war to disagree with each other. Some people pray; others hold vigils; some march on sidewalks; others practice civil disobedience in the streets, on bridges, and in cells. I thank all of these people, as we all have parts to play in this. As someone who has been involved in these different forms of protesting, I would like to remind people that it is all helpful in some way. So thanks to everyone who is doing something publicly - and privately, too, as we need a change in consciousness for this to stop. Let's respect and honor each other as we continue forward. [ Discuss ]

"Shock and Awe": [ 1 | 2 ]

Mixed 1000 congregate at Federal Building for afternoon rally, demo continues (as of 8:30 PM) with candles and lanterns. Although no sign of current demo ending, other protestors call for return to Federal Building Friday 12NOON and 4PM

At the U.S. Federal Building in Eugene, OR, a 4PM rally to stop the invasion swelled to some 1000 persons by 5:30PM (including one counter-demonstrator, a man whose sign attacking treason and sedition was ambiguous...motorists gave him peace sign thinking he was refering to Bush!) Demonstrators, cosmopolitan and including persons in tie-die holding candles, persons wearing black block, and persons in suits and dresses getting off of work, occupied all four sides of the intersection and united to urge the rush hour motorists to stop the war and impeach Bush. Anti-war speakers and local singing groups again took the stage and urged fortitude for a long struggle, as well as expressing sadness for the lost of life to date. [ Full Story ]

From the open publishing newswire: Several U.S. flags were burned, one at a time, as some 400 Eugene activists and citizens continued to reject the illicit Bush regime invasion of Iraq. The crowds include several dozen black-blocks, dozens of local peace activists, as well as outraged citizens from 2 years old to 82.

In one case riot police prevented the return of a U.S. flag to its owner after a right-wing counter demonstrator grabed it and attempted to steal it, and others insisted it go back to its rightful owner, who was attempting a political protest protected by the United States Supreme Court. Instead, an EPD member pocketed the flag himself as a memento.

But several others flags were burned, as 4 lanes of Eugene motorists passed the major intersection of 8th and Oak in front of the Federal Building, overwhelmingly expressing their support with short horn honks, clenched fists, peace signs, and thumbs up.

A woman with both her and her 2 year old baby, both soaked in what appeared to be blood, repeatedly crossed the crosswalks in front of traffic...
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Photos: [ flag burning | crowd | flags | signs ]

1000 still demonstrating