| LA DEMONSTRATORS BLOCK CAR OF GEN. TOMMY FRANKS LOS ANGELES SCHOOL IS SITE OF DRAMATIC CONFRONTATION General Franks, attempting to leave the school in an SUV with tinted windows, was totally blocked by protesters who climbed onto the hood and body of the car and blocked his departure with banners, signs and their own bodies. it remained immobilized in the middle of the street. DEMONSTRATORS BLOCK CAR OF GEN. TOMMY FRANKS; LOS ANGELES SCHOOL IS SITE OF DRAMATIC CONFRONTATION by don white LOS ANGELES [April 19, 2005] A small but militant group of anti-war protesters confronted retired Iraqi war general Tommy Franks this morning as he left a student assembly at Logan Street Elementery School in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. General Franks, attempting to leave the school in an SUV with tinted windows, was totally blocked by protesters who climbed onto the hood and body of the car and blocked his departure with banners, signs and their own bodies. "War criminal! Murderer of the Iraqi People!" and other chants were directed at the car as it remained immobilized in the middle of the street. Parents and community people, outraged by the appearance of the general, joined in the direct confrontation which came as the vehicle was leaving campus. A father whose son was killed in the Iraqi war reported after the episode, "I looked Franks right in the eye and told him he killed my boy." Veterans of the Iraqi war also reported that they were able to see into the lightly tinted windows and address Franks with their comments. Protesters were nudged by the driver but no injuries and no arrests took place. Police made an exit route for the general's car. The protest, called and organized in a three-hour time frame, came about when parents, teachers and community members learned of the appearance of General Franks at the school. The school's administration and Los Angeles Unified School District officials kept the appearance a secret from the community. "We had no idea this was going to happen," a veteran teacher told reporters. A parent commented, "I didn't know a military man was speaking to our children today; we should have been told," she told KNX Radio News in an interview. Many parents, speaking in Spanish, told protesters they did not like the idea of the military being on campus promoting that option to their young people. Logan Street is a grade school in a working class, heavily immigrant community just west of downtown Los Angeles. The general was brought to the campus by a non-profit pro-military foundation which arranges celebrity appearances. The school was in full lockdown as demonstrators arrived at 11:00 a.m. No community people were allowed on campus and signs indicating a press conference were at main entrances. About 25 loud and lively demonstrators carried signs and banners with various messages: ---NO GENERALS TEACHING WAR; TEACH PEACE ---DON'T RECRUIT OUR FIFTH GRADERS FOR THE WAR ---ROTC AND GENERALS OFF CAMPUS ---LOGAN STREET HAS SOLD OUT ITS STUDENTS and other protest signs. Several organizations in the peace movement sent representatives and community people joined the activity. Los Angeles Unified District police threatened to take one protester into custody if she did not provide her name and personal information. After a lengthy exchange she did so under protest. Logan Street vice-principal had reported, "She twice requested to come on campus and we are afraid she will disrupt." The protester denied she did anything illegal or provocative and a legal observer from the National Lawyer's Guild said an inquiry would probably be made at school district headquarters. The situation grew tense when protesters angrily confronted administrators at the school for providing General Franks as a role model for fifth graders. The event ended shortly after General Franks left the campus. CISPES Committee In Solidarity With The People of El Salvador 8124 West 3rd Street L.A. Ca. 90048 323-852-0721 Founded: 1980 - 25 Years of Solidarity |