March 23, 2003
Law officers outnumber demonstrators at VAFB By By NORA K. WALLACE, DAWN HOBBS and JENNIFER GOLLAN Three protesters were arrested for trespassing Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base's front gate, while more than 40 others stood silently for two hours expressing "mute horror" over the war in Iraq. Although the number of demonstrators was dwarfed by the thousand or more who marched through downtown Santa Barbara, civilian law enforcement and members of the national media directed their efforts at Vandenberg -- fearing larger crowds and illegal infiltrations into the sprawling installation's backcountry. But despite being hyped on the Internet, and heavily in the Bay Area and on the South Coast, civilian and military law enforcement outnumbered the protesters. As of early evening, no protesters appeared to have made it onto the base's backcountry to damage or vandalize sensitive equipment they believe is helping guide the war effort. At the front gate, Ojai resident Sanderson Beck was up front about his intentions. Screaming "Stop the war, Stop the war" to the cheers of fellow protesters, Mr. Beck yelled at military police as he was arrested: "You are murdering the people of Iraq. ... You people are war criminals. ... People need to rise up and nonviolently protest."
Sister Mary Pat White, of the San Luis Obispo Religious of the Sacred Heart community, and Sheila Baker, also of San Luis Obispo, took a quieter approach. While rows of military police wearing riot gear stood nearby, the two women knelt in prayer after passing orange barricades and a green demarcation line on the asphalt -- meant to keep protesters off base property. Dozens of supporters stood behind the line, singing, "Courage sisters, you do not walk alone, we will walk with you and see your spirit on." All three were given two-minute warnings, and arrested when they did not move before the deadline. They face up to a year in jail, $5,000 fines, and will be permanently barred from entering the base. "I am absolutely convinced this war is unjust and immoral," said Sister White, whose wrists were later clasped in plastic handcuffs. "My conscience compels me to take this public stand." Across the street from the peace group, about a dozen people stood with American flags and signs reading "Support Our Troops." While people in cars passing the two groups mostly yelled jeers like "traitors" and flashed obscene gestures at the peace rally, hundreds of cars honked horns and waved toward the others. "They should cover their faces," said Lompoc resident Lorin Bronson, who held a flag across from the group. "What they're doing is shameful." On Friday night, a half-dozen activists said they planned backcountry actions within the next few days. "They're not going to catch me," predicted Justin "Tex" Squires, who lives in Northern California. "I'm going to find their (radar) towers and put some foil over it, hopefully to save some lives." Mr. Squires, sporting a mohawk haircut and a new "anarchy" tattoo on his hand, said he's "tired of being told what to do by the government. I support the troops but I don't support the killing of innocent people to do it."
Security police teams did disrupt what appeared to be a potential infiltration, said base spokeswoman Maj. Stacee Bako. Friday around 5 p.m., security forces saw a van full of people on Lompoc-Casmalia Road, but the vehicle drove away without incident. Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m., another group was spotted at the end of Miguelito Canyon Road, but they were not arrested. Hours before the Vandenberg event, more than a dozen people gathered on H Street, near Central Avenue. Holding large and small American flags, they stood near a sign that said "Love our troops."
The cacophony of horns honking was deafening at times, and people applauded out car windows and raised thumbs-up to the participants. "The purpose is to support the troops," said Mr. Bronson, who later went to Vandenberg. "To let them know we're thinking of them." Norma Chierichetti, wearing flag earrings and sporting a red blazer, firmly backs men and women in uniform. "I hope the troops don't see all the protests," she said. "It can't be good for their morale. I wish they could hear the horns honking." In Santa Barbara, honking came from frustrated drivers as antiwar demonstrators took over downtown streets at lunchtime, with many protesters lying in the middle of intersections staging "die-ins." Saturday's protest, following two nights of demonstrations around town, was largely taken in stride, with tour-bus loads of tourists leaning out to snap photos of the crowd. Determined shoppers buffered State Street stores from the swarm of demonstrators, which one police official estimated at 1,200 people. A Houston couple, who asked not to be named, took a break from shopping to observe the procession, and said that although they didn't agree with the activists, they enjoyed the show. "It is very interesting. We have never seen anything like this." Civil disobedience was kept to a minimum in a crowd that seems divided on how dissent should be expressed. Bayard Stockton, 72, who was stationed in Germany during the Korean War, said, "We know war. Some of us suffered deeply from it. We veterans have chosen to avoid violence and confrontation in the streets of our city because we believe that style of opposition gives the wrong message to those who support the war." However, others believe civil disobedience is necessary. "Intelligent civil disobedience is the only voice we have right now," said Jan Smith, who was arrested Thursday afternoon and spent the night in County Jail after blocking Highway 101 traffic near Milpas Street. Steve Stormaen carried a tattered flag he and his friends had burned holes into. "I think the politics this nation supports is in tatters," he said. "That's what this flag represents." One woman silently walked the opposite way of the crowd, holding her nose in symbolic protest of the demonstrators as the crowd chanted "Bush Out Now!" In a twist from Thursday and Friday nights' demonstrations, protesters continued marching up State Street rather than heading up Carrillo Street toward the freeway. Some said they thought about trying to head to the freeway ramp at Carrillo, but weren't sure if others would follow. Instead the crowd took a turn off State Street onto Victoria Street and then head-on into traffic on one-way Chapala Street. Donna Faulkner sat stuck in her SUV as protesters walked by. "I'm mad right now," said Ms. Faulkner, 59, who was wearing a "God Bless America Shirt" with an American flag on it. "I support the war." But one protester said that violence abroad must be countered with nonviolence at home. "I am in support of nonviolence because violence never solves anything, it just creates more," said Bubbha Wilkins, a transient of Santa Barbara. But some bystanders felt the protest was futile. "It was all right before the war started, but now that it has, why bother?" asked Francisco Serrano, a 19-year-old clerk at Quizno's Subs on State Street. County protesters were joined Saturday by hundreds of thousands of protesters who took to the streets around the globe, continuing the daily marches against war in Iraq with the same resolve and tenacity as U.S. troops marching to Baghdad. In New York, an estimated 120,000 protesters clogged Broadway, while smaller crowds chanted and jammed main thoroughfares in Washington, Chicago and other cities.
Nora K. Wallace reported from Vandenberg, Dawn Hobbs, Thomas Schultz and Jennifer Gollan from Santa Barbara. This story includes reports from Cox News Service. |
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