Press reports claimed there were no protest arrests when NATO came to Washington, D.C. last April. However, to defend the right of the permanent vigil for nuclear disarmament to remain in Peace (Lafayette) Park, opposite the White House, William Thomas was arrested April 23, as the NATO summit began. He refused a National Park Service order to vacate for three days the protest area he and a few others have steadfastly held since 1981, because, “To do otherwise would be to capitulate to tyranny.”
Contending all along that the closure order was a violation of free speech rights, Thomas was arrested and released a few hours later with a court date of July 21.
For more information, contact Peace Park Anti-Nuclear Vigil at the White House, (202)462-0757.
Chicago
On April 26, 450 persons gathered in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Chicago where the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations was to host Gen. Wesley Clark, supreme allied commander in the war against Yugoslavia, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of NATO. Since Wesley was busy bombing Yugoslavia back into the stone age, Retired Admiral Lopez came in his stead. Two persons unfolded paper signs opposing the bombing and walked about the hotel reception area for all to see. Eventually the head of hotel security took the signs away from them and they left.
Meanwhile, outside, the police had corralled the demonstrators in a pen and refused to let them walk about the area, which was filled with commuters. When they first tried to leave the pen, one person who was carrying a mock casket was arrested. The crowd chanted “let him go” to no avail. His current legal status is not known.