More than 40 protesters carried signs, wore masks and chanted anti-Bush slogans at the Crowne Pyramid Monday to air grievances with President George W. Bush.
Bush was at the Crowne Plaza at 5151 San Francisco Rd. NE to speak at a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and also made a stop at UNM's Continuing Education Building to address mental health care issues.
Brandishing signs that read "Stop the War Machine" and "People not Profits," protesters shouted at police as they were forcibly driven away from the hotel by Albuquerque police horseback and SWAT team units. Demonstrators were steadily pushed along San Francisco Road until they reached the south intersection at Sun Avenue.
Police in charge of moving protesters away from the hotel received some unexpected support when sprinklers on the property of Sun Health Group's World Headquarters suddenly activated, drenching everyone. Sun Healthcare employees on the scene refused to comment on the timing of the property's sprinkler system.
Demonstrators who stood up to police horseback units were placed into custody or were simply bounced between the steeds until they retreated to the picket line.
A short time after being corralled into a small area at the corner of Sun Avenue and San Francisco Road, a small group of the demonstrators attempted to walk across San Francisco Road and were immediately repelled by police dressed in riot gear and armed with batons. A mobile holding unit on the scene took protesters into custody who refused to back off or had been knocked down. The Albuquerque Police Department's Media Relations Office could not be reached to determine the number of protesters arrested. Unofficially, at least six demonstrators were placed into custody.
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However, not all protesters attending the demonstration were willing to clash with police. Jeremy Flores and Linda Asbury sat along San Francisco Road about 100 feet from where police and picket lines faced off.
Both Flores and Asbury said they believed aggression and confrontational attitudes by some of the other protesters were unproductive and ultimately harmful to the arguments and positions being voiced at the demonstration.
"I'm definitely against the war machine," Flores said.
The nation's involvement with the ongoing war on terrorism was not the only issue being addressed by demonstrators.
UNM students Marshall Martinez and Tess Francis said they wanted to voice their concerns over the Bush administration's stance on women's reproductive rights.
"We're making a statement that reminds the American people that we don't all have to agree with who is in political office," Martinez said.
Abortion rights, foreign policy, Iraq, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, nuclear weapons in New Mexico, the 2000 presidential election, environmental degradation, the roles of corporations in America and even veterans' benefits were all topics of concern among protesters.
Donald Thompson, a WWII and Korea veteran and president of the Veterans for Peace local chapter, said he disagrees with several aspects of the Bush administration's foreign and domestic policies.
"I don't believe in the direction the Bush administration is taking this country in," Thompson said.
