CODEPINK Vigil Participants Harassed, Arrested |
Police Shut Down Golden Gate Bridge For No Apparent Reason In conjunction with hundreds of demonstrations around the U.S., Bay Area CODEPINK Women for Peace marked the 3,000th U.S. combat death in Iraq with a planned walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. The San Francisco contingent was met by law enforcement who told them that the bridge was private property and they were not allowed to walk across it. According to eyewitness and arrestee Janet Weil: "Ten of us, eight women and two men, were arrested after a two-and-a-half hour "stand-in" at the southern end of the bridge. The charge: "trespassing on the Golden Gate Bridge" even though it is a public bridge, AND we never were permitted to set foot on the bridge until, ironically, we were arrested by the CHP." A cameraman from News 7 San Franciso was assaulted by the police, who pushed his camera back into his face, injuring his eye and damaging the camera. When a reporter attempted to get name and badge number of the offending officer, that officer refused to give his name and physically covered his badge with his hand; this is in direct violation of standard police procedure. |
