On Monday evening a crowd of approximately fifty people marched to the Amway Grand Plaza to protest the occupation of Iraq and disrupt a speech being given by the former "dictator" of Iraq, Paul Bremer. The event, a $150 a plate fundraiser, was sponsored by the World Affairs Council and was closed to both the general public and the press. Several protestors attempted to enter the building in order to disrupt the speech and give voice to local opposition to the Iraq war. The first attempt to get in the building was met with a line of hotel employees and police officers. The protesters where kept from entering the building and three people were arrested on charges of "trespassing." The group loudly jeered the arresting officers and continued to occupy the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Two protesters were able to slip past and get into the lobby only to be told to leave by a GRPD officer. Despite their decision to comply with the officer's command, one of the two was arrested for trespassing. While the protest continued in the front of the hotel, four determined individuals brandishing drums went around to the parking structure and attempted to enter the building from there. While going through the pedestrian bridge, the four drummers were tackled, arrested, and charged with "trespassing" and "failure to stop." After they were forced to the ground and handcuffed, a security guard commented to the police "Did you get all those rascals?"
The eight arrested demonstrators were taken to the Kent County Jail and held for several hours before being released. Their bail was set at $500 to $1000 depending on the individual charges, rather excessive amounts for misdemeanors. Fortunately, bond money was found for all eight and nobody suffered anything more than bumps and bruises and sore wrists from overly tight handcuffs.
The protestors had a series of demands with the main demand being an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. The protestors cited the enormous civilian cost--nearly 14,000 Iraqis killed, the violation of international law and fundamental human rights, and Bremer's restructuring of the Iraqi economy to benefit US corporations as their reasons for protesting. More information and the specific demands can be found on a leaflet distributed by the protestors.
Media coverage of the event was very limited as Bremer refused to allow any press to be present at the event. FOX 17 was the only local TV station that covered the protest and they incorrectly reported that only three people had been arrested. The Grand Rapids Press had an article about Bremer's speech but they also mistakenly reported that only three arrests had taken place. According to people that attended the dinner to hear the speech, Bremer repeated the standard Bush administration lies justifying the Iraq war. Reportedly, he started his speech with a rather poor taste joke about an American, a British man, and an Iraqi being taken hostage by insurgents who argue about which to kill first. The punch line is that the American says he is an ambassador so the Iraqi and British man agrees to be killed first so as to be spared hearing the American give a speech. The majority of the crowd laughed at this rather pathetic attempt at humor making light of kidnappings and executions.
A small group of local "protest warriors" (photo) were also present, carrying American flags and signs with simplistic and factually incorrect slogans. Several conversations started amongst the demonstrators and the counter-protestors. The discussions quickly turned to shouting matches as the "protest warriors" showed a complete inability to rationally argue their position, relying on volume and name-calling to make their point.
