According to the Golden Gate Bridge District Manager Kary Witt, the anti-war mobilization can not happen on Saturday, May 25th after 12 noon due to traffic concerns although the march organizers submitted the proposal for a permit weeks ago proposing the mobilization would be at 2pm. Witt also stated that this anti-war mobilization can not have any signs whatsoever. This is the Bridge District's position even though American flag-wavers are allowed access to the bridge every day. This is an attack on free speech and our right to oppose this U.S. government's war on the peoples of the planet.
The organizers of Take it to the Bridge understand that activities protected by the First Amendment such as marching should not even require a permit. A permit was sought for this mobilization weeks ago out of our concern for the safety and security of the march participants in a time when the U.S. government can use any resistance to its policies to attack people under the so-called "war on terrorism." Our attempts to meet with the Bridge Manager to discuss their concerns have been put off until today, when a meeting was scheduled for this Friday. This is the first time that the Bridge Manager has raised the inflexibility regarding the time and the nature of the event.
It is clear that the bridge authorities are terrified at the idea that the "Golden Gate" would be used as a forum to express dissent at U.S. foreign and domestic policy. They tell us (essentially): Our Golden Bridge is for tourists, Marines with assault rifles, and American flag-wavers only. We tell them: on May 25th thousands of outraged people will converge on your bridge to show you otherwise. We need to mobilize for free speech on the Golden Gate Bridge as the peoples' right to stand against the U.S. government's trajectory of war and terror on the world and send a message to the international community!! Act now and contact the Golden Bridge Manager at the number above. Contact allpeepsco@yahoo.com for more information.
What you can do Attend the Meeting, this Friday, May 17th, 9am at the GG Bridge Manager's Office, Administration Building, Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza, San Francisco. Call Kary Witt, Golden Gate Bridge Manager at (415) 923-2240, (415) 923-2013 or email dbernie@goldengate.org attention Kary Witt.
Kary Witt
dbernie@goldengate.org
May 16, 2002
I am writing in regards to the Take it to the Bridge rally planned for Saturday, May 25, on behalf of the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL), one of many organizations that will be attending the event. The sudden denial of a permit for the event is indicative of an effort to confuse and weaken the organizing taking place. Similar strategies have been used by officials in New York City and across the country. However, RAIL stands side-by-side with the All People's Coalition in their refusal to accept this denial.
We reject the denial for a permit because speaking out against the murder of millions of people every year by imperialist war and economic policies is of utmost importance to us. We reject the denial because people waving flags and armed national guards are allowed on the bridge every day to put forth an image supporting such U.S. policies. And we hope that you will recognize our first ammendment rights and permit the rally to take place so that we can voice our opinions on the issues without fear of reprisal by those armed guards.
We encourage you to work with the Coalition at tomorrow's meeting in order to allow this event to happen legally, and in an atmosphere where participants feel safe and free to express their dissent.
Bay Area Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL)
May 16, 2002
I understand that you are responsible for denying the Take it to the Bridge anti-war demonstration permission to hold a peaceful demonstration after noon on the Golden Gate Bridge on May 25. Further you have stated that the demonstrators can not hold any signs. You lost the chance to hide behind the guise of "traffic concerns" with this later restriction. What possible reason could there be for denying demonstrators the right to hold signs except a restriction on the peoples right to free speech because you (the responsible city administrators) do not like what this demonstration is saying. There are people walking across the bridge daily carrying Amerikan flags and there is no restriction on them, or on others who walk across with signs.
In this country we enjoy relative freedom, compared to many countries around the world. But this freedom, like our wealth, comes at the expense of the majority of the world's people. And this freedom is denied, even illegally in contradiction to the First Amendment, when oppressed people within u.s. borders attempt to exercise it to demand equality. It is denied inside the prisons, which are used as tools of social control. And it is denied when any people with in u.s. borders try to speak out against u.s. imperialism. But we, as activists, know that we can sometimes win battles within the imperialist legal system, even though that legal system is not set up to serve us. And we know that the power of public outcry and protest can help us win these battles which are all about politics and power.
The administration of the Golden Gate bridge can try to deny the people their right to free speech, but this will only strengthen the peoples resolve to speak out more loudly. People around the world are dying at the hands of the united states military or other militaries armed and funded by the U.$. We in this country have a responsibility (and supposedly a right) to speak out against this terror.
I, along with others from my organization, will be at the demonstration May 25, demanding that the united states end it's imperialist terror against the people of the world. We will be holding signs that will educate others by proclaiming our support for the just struggles for self-determination of peoples of the Third World, the real victims of terrorism.
We hope you will reconsider your position denying the people access to the Golden Gate Bridge just because you oppose their political message.
Sincerely,
the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)