Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2002 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Guy Taylor and Sean Salai
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

HILL PROTESTS TARGET MARIJUANA, OIL POLICIES

Law enforcement authorities responded quickly yesterday to an unrelated 
series of protests and demonstrations across the District.

Ten demonstrators were arrested shortly after 11 a.m. when they chained 
themselves across the main entrance of the U.S. Justice Department and 
chanted slogans for the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

Organizers said the 10 intended to be arrested as part of a national day of 
action and "civil disobedience" orchestrated by marijuana advocacy groups 
in 55 cities.

While a team of Federal Protective Services (FPS) police carted the 
demonstrators from the Justice Department at 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, D.C. 
police were keeping a close eye on two other rallies cranking up on Capitol 
Hill.

At 10 a.m., a smattering of protesters toting picket signs gathered outside 
the Exxon station in the 200 block of Massachusetts Avenue NE, calling on 
the United States not to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

By 10:30, however, the protesters found themselves outnumbered by a throng 
of more than 50 counterdemonstrators, who arrived with their own picket 
signs and began chanting: "Cheap Oil Now! Cheap Oil Now! Cheap Oil Now!" 
The first group, calling itself the "Stop ExxonMobil Alliance" -- a 
coalition of Ralph Nader's Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Amnesty 
International and Greenpeace that opposes drilling in the Alaskan refuge -- 
was taking part in its own national day of action, occurring in 17 American 
cities.

"For years, ExxonMobil has created human-sacrifice zones around its 
facilities and sabotaged actions to stop global warming," said Neal Kemkar, 
an outreach director for PIRG. "They constantly deceive the public on the 
issues, and their industry-funded lobby group here today proves they have 
something to hide."

The counterdemonstration, consisting mostly of Capitol Hill interns, was 
spearheaded by the Washington-based taxpayer-advocacy organization 
Americans for Tax Reform. The organization's president, Grover Norquist, 
said he found out in advance that "the left" would be demonstrating against 
Exxon.

"There's no reason in the world to let them take a cheap shot at America or 
at freedom for the sake of publicity," Mr. Norquist said. "We decided to 
show up to make it hard for them, and I think that we won."

While the group waved signs reading "Stop Global Whining" and "Capitalism 
Rocks," several self-described "soccer moms" drove by in 
American-flag-draped minivans, honking their horns.

The counterdemonstration also featured a person wearing a Saddam Hussein 
mask, carrying an "I hate America" poster and another dressed in a suit 
representing Exxon's tiger mascot with an "SUVs are g-r-r-e-e-a-t" sign.

Neither Mr. Norquist nor the PIRG had police-issued permits to demonstrate, 
but an officer standing nearby said, "You don't need a permit to 
demonstrate if you're just walking on the sidewalk."

Exxon employees said they weren't surprised by the demonstrations. "They do 
this every year at about the same time," gas station clerk Joseph Rohayem 
said. "We don't call the police unless they set up barricades or otherwise 
obstruct our customers."

The 10 medicinal-marijuana demonstrators arrested at the Justice Department 
were affiliated with the District-based Marijuana Policy Project. They were 
fined $50 each and charged by FPS officers with "blocking an entrance to a 
federal building," said David Bethel, a spokesman for the General Services 
Administration, which oversees the FPS police.
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