With world-famous corporate neon signs blaring overhead,
police enforce no protest signs rule in Times Square

Two University of Massachusetts Amherst wimmin attempted to walk into New York City's Times Square on February 15th with paper signs opposing war with Iraq written in magic marker, but police turned them away by force. In the minutes immediately before and after 6pm, MIM Notes witnessed police forced some demonstrators to throw away paper signs from the protest to be admitted into the Times Square area.

The two University of Massachusetts students kept their posters while arguing with police: "what happened to my free speech?" one asked. "I just want to go to the restaurant. . . Don't you want us to spend our money here?," said one of the students. Officer Pascal (white male, badge 5448) said, "do you know how much you cost New York today?"

In this way, New York City tried to blame protesters for the City's overreaction that resulted in hiring 5,000 police to handle the demonstration. "More than 5,000 on-duty cops, who used radiation detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs, were assigned to control the rally participants."(1)

The Mayor arranged for 5000 police to come out in order to stigmatize the protesters as the worst pack of criminals yet seen in New York. That is the mayor's fault, not the protesters'. The last time the City spent that much money mobilizing police was in November 2001 "when American Airline 587 crashed in the Rockaways."(2)

Standing at 42nd and Times Square, next to metal gates on the sidewalks, police told the protesters: "you have a choice: either get rid of the sign or go in another direction." The menacing officer Pascal seemed to be in charge and accused protestors of "blocking the sidewalk"--even as they stood to the side of the metal gate the police had made which was truly blocking the sidewalk. Black male officer Williams (badge 7949) was there assisting as was another black male officer and at least one womyn officer.

Earlier in the day, police stopped protesters on 1st Ave. for the slightest of sticks attached to their signs. Police determined that people would not be able to hold up a sign on a stick of any kind. It was the first sign of intimidation tactics as demonstrators arrived.

Yet, in Times Square, the tactics were different. The two wimmin were carrying paper signs and there was no demonstration at that moment to attend anyway, so the officers' request amounted to asking the wimmin to throw away their signs before they could have dinner in Times Square. When confronted that stopping the wimmin for paper signs was not the regulation, the officers had nothing to say specifically, but they continued to form a wall of officers around the two wimmin to push them out.