BALTIMORE (3/20/03) - Protesters freely roamed the streets of Baltimore and Towson today, halting business as usual in protest of the Bush administration's war on Iraq. Students from at least eleven colleges and high schools converged in Towson for a noon walkout while hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Baltimore at 5pm. Activists also braved conservative Annapolis to express their outrage at Bush's war.

Towson Demonstration "Largest in Years"
In a cold rain protesting the Bush Administration's war on Iraq, more than 300 students converged on the central business area of Towson effectively closing it down. The Baltimore County Police tactic was to block off the intersections leading into the central business area. Students marched from Goucher College, Towson University, and Towson High School with participation also from Catonsville Community College, Cockeysville Middle School, Essex Community College, and Loch Raven High School. High school students experienced threats of suspension and expulsion; students from Carver School for Arts and Technology were locked in by administrators.

At noon, about 110 students rallied in front of the Cook Library on the campus of Towson University with banners saying "No War for Oil. U.S. Out of the Middle East Now!", "We Are All Humans Now!", "Fund Education Not War!" and chanting "support our troops. Bring them home now!"

Indymedia talked to James Baker, a sophmore studying history. This was one of Baker's first protests. Baker noted that the Bush Administration did not make a "concentrated attempt at diplomacy" and has used 9/11 and the "terrorism threat for an excuse." Baker, who sees oil as one motivating factor, was concerned that the U.S. has burned bridges internationally. While he thought "the world would be better without Saddam Hussein," the Bush Administration seemed not concerned about "possible consequences in the Arab world."

Sheltered from the pouring rain, Natalie Meconi, a sophmore studying criminal justice, was an observer of the protest. She had mixed feelings about the war. Meconi said she had "friends over there who probably didn't want to go." She thought the regime of Hussein bad enough to justify U.S. intervention, but was emphatic that "there should be no bombing of civilians." Meconi said she had many friends who have similar ambivalent feelings.

At 12:40pm, with the chant "One, Two, Three Four. We don't want your fucking war. Five, six, seven, eight. We will not cooperate," the Towson students marched off campus onto York Road. Police blocked traffic allowing marchers to take over the road. As the Towson University students approached the Towson Circle, they were joined by a contingent of students from Towson High School.

At the Towson Circle, the protesters marched around the circle as other groups and individuals joined. At 1:15pm the protesters were joined by a larger contingent marching south from Goucher College. According to student organizer Jenn Mizgata, 172 students and faculty came from her campus.

Michele Lynch, a Goucher sophmore studying dance and intercultural communication, arrived with the Goucher Peace and Justice Coalition, a new group of 40 to 50 members. Lynch thought that the motivation for the war was "sadly economic." She made argument that the Bush Administration is avoiding dealing with serious domestic economic issues by using political power to distract attention from these issues. And war on Iraq is a huge distraction.

The march left the Towson Circle growing to over 300 along the way. It travelled along the perimeter the police set up marching onto Alleghany, York, Pennsylvania, Towson By-Pass, Bosley Avenue, back north on York Road turning into the Carver School for the Arts and Technology.

At Carver, the protesters chanted "Let Them March!" As police and administrators stood in front of the building between the protesters and the students standing behind the closed doors. Administrators refused to comment to Indymedia, referring us to Charles Hearndon of Baltimore County Public Schools.

After marching east from Carver, the protesters ended back at the Towson Circle where they rallied. Many protesters intended to come to the 5:00pm protest at the War Memorial Plaza in Baltimore City. However, some planned to attend a "Global Town Meeting" at Goucher College where according to Uta Larkey, a German professor, faculty and other community members will address how the governments of other countries are responding to the U.S. war on Iraq. Larkey will "represent" Germany in this campus discussion.

Baltimore Protesters "Bring It To The People"
About 300 people gathered at War Memorial Plaza at 5pm to protest the war. This was organized by the Iraq Pledge of Resistance and was the originally announced emergency demonstration. At around 5:30, a group split off and began marching around downtown Baltimore, occasionally blocking traffic. The breakaway march returned to War Memorial Plaza around 6:30pm. No arrests reported.

The "snake march," facilitated by the All Peoples Congress, Coalition against Global Exploitation, Left Turn, Roundhouse Collective, and SUSTAIN (Stop US Aid to Israel Now!), left the War Memorial Plaza area at 5:30pm moving towards the Inner Harbor where it intermittently blocked traffic at intersections.

About 125 protesters marched south to Pratt Street where some pulled out orange street cones and plastic barrels which, along with their bodies, were used to stall traffic until police, in the grab of Baltimore City Police Department's Quick Response Team appeared. Protesters would then march to the sidewalks, leaving the orange objects for police to move. A few confrontations between police and protesters occurred with police using force a few times.

The protesters, led by individuals with a "Fund Education, Not War!" banner, chanted "No blood for oil!", "What do you say, Baltimore? We don't want your fucking war", "Two, four, six eight. Tell the people who we hate. Bush, Cheney, the whole damn state!". A chant of "Police against the war! Police against the war!" even brought one younger officer to laugh apparently in support.

Along the way, Indymedia spoke to Randy Chase, a veteran of many protests, who compared the current situation to Germany in the 1930s. Emphasizing the importance of speaking out, Chase, who is of German descent, said "If we don't do something, we'll burn in hell, like Germany in the 1930s." Using religious metaphor, he noted he was not of a particular affiliation. But Chase's sentiment echoed that of Pastor Niemoeller, a victim of Nazism, who wrote "First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew....Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak out for me."

We also spoke to Caitlin Webster, a sophomore studying acting at University of Maryland Baltimore County. This was Webster's first protest. She thinks Bush is "leading the United States into an unjust war." Saddam Hussein's regime may be brutal and authoritarian, but "how is Hussein a greater threat than others, such as, North Korea," she asked. Webster sees Bush motivated by "greed, oil, and revenge" about the alleged assassination attempt on Bush's father. Webster believes she sees enough of factors to justify her protest today, the bottom line being that there "should not be the killing of innocent civilians."

The march worked its way to the Federal Court at Hanover and Lombard Streets, then returned to the War Memorial Plaza by 6:30pm where it met a line of police along Gay Street and eventually dispersed. No arrests reported, though there was a curious photographer who selectively took photos and seemed connected to police.

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For photos and video of the March 20 snake march and emergency protest in Baltimore, see:

baltimore.indymedia.org/media/protests/display/1185/index.php

See also the first-person report on the arrests of 40 in a March 21 civil disobedience action at the Garmatz Federal Courthouse:
baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3260/index.php and the report "Anti-War Momentum Surges":
baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3307/index.php