Veterans being arrested at the Vietnam Memorial... Veterans and their allies gathered this evening at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in New York to mark the 12th anniversary of the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan. Last year the solemn memorial service organized by members of Veterans For Peace to honor the dead from the war in Afghanistan and other U.S. wars, including the Vietnam War memorialized at that place, was interrupted at 10 pm by a police demand that they vacate the park, which is normally used at all hours by dog walkers, workers in nearby office buildings, and others. When they refused to leave, 25 veterans and their allies were arrested, and 12 of them, including a decorated World War II veteran, were convicted in July of failure to obey a park rule. This year, they returned to protest the ongoing U.S. wars around the world, to honor the dead from those wars, and to assert their First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech. The police again demanded that they vacate the memorial and upon refusal some of them were arrested and now face possible jail time...
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 21:39:48 +0000