- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flag-draped
coffins and jeering anti-war protesters competed with pomp and circumstance
on Thursday at the inauguration of President Bush along the snow-dusted,
barricaded streets of central Washington.
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- As the president's motorcade made its way down Pennsylvania
Avenue from the Capitol to the White House amid the tightest security in
inaugural history, thousands of protesters along the parade route and nearby
downtown streets booed, chanted slogans and carried placards condemning
Bush's policies at home and abroad.
-
- Some turned their back as the president drove slowly
past. Others yelled, "George Bush, you can't hide. We charge you with
genocide." Among the forest of protest signs, some read "Blood
is on your hands" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam." Others
called for electoral reform, gay rights, abortion rights and the use of
renewable energy.
-
- "There are a lot of people dying overseas for
nothing and I'm here to get my voice heard," said Bill Coffelt, 40,
an engineer from Fairfax, Va.
-
- Protesters also traded insults with the more numerous,
cheering Bush supporters, many of whom wore fur coats and paid for the
best viewing spots at the first inaugural parade since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
-
- In one area, police briefly sought to disperse with
pepper spray demonstrators who hurled bottles, trash and snowballs at officers
while trying to break through a security fence holding them back from the
parade.
-
- At least one snowball hit Vice President Dick Cheney's
limousine, and Bush's limousine sped up to get past the commotion.
-
- One group of protesters carried hundreds of mock
coffins along 16th Street, a downtown thoroughfare leading to the White
House, to remind Americans of the mounting casualties in Iraq.
-
- And an American flag was set alight just outside
a security checkpoint at 13th and Pennsylvania.
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- "It's beyond comprehension the damage this man
has done," said Meredith Lair, 32, who just completed a doctorate
in history at Pennsylvania State University. "I think it's horrifying
what we're doing to Iraq," said Lair, who was carrying a sign that
read, "Mr. Bush, under my mittens I'm giving you the finger."
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- Isolated Scuffles
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- Police said there were at least 13 arrests, two for
assaulting an officer and the rest for disorderly conduct or other violations.
One was a man who embarrassed police four years ago by sneaking past security
to get a handshake from Bush. He did not get a chance for another grip
this inauguration.
-
- Police also scuffled with about 30 protesters two
streets away from the parade route, using pepper spray and batons to disperse
the group of self-styled anarchists, who wore bandannas to hide their faces.
-
- "He (Bush) says he's bringing freedom to the
world, and we're getting pepper-sprayed for our First Amendment rights.
That's kind of ironic," said 22-year-old Dustin, who works for the
National Institutes of Health and did not want to give his full name.
-
- Just outside the White House grounds, 17 protesters
staged a "die-in." After shouting a chant of "Stop the killing,
stop the war," they dropped to the pavement one by one as one of them
began reading a list of those killed in Iraq.
-
- One spectator apparently found the act so credible
that he began administering CPR. Others were less sympathetic.
-
- "I hope you don't get up. I hope you freeze
your ass off," said another, who was among a group heading toward
the parade-viewing grandstands nearest the White House.
-
- Throughout the city, thousands of police and military
troops were on patrol with bomb-sniffing dogs, and spectators had to pass
through metal detectors before attending any inaugural events or heading
to the parade.
-
- Police sealed off 100 blocks around the White House
and parade route, barring all traffic except official security and police
cars.
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- Demonstration organizers had complained they were
not being given adequate access to protest, while Bush supporters were
granted prime locations along the parade route.
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