Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
This is an ongoing notebook of events as police and protesters square off.
Apr 15, 2000 | In another startlingly fast display of power, about six dozen D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers clad in riot gear and carrying billy clubs pushed through and broke up a crowd of about the same size that had gathered to protest near the Treasury Building Sunday at noon. In the process, a photographer fell to the ground and injured his head, leaving a bloody smear on 15th Street, and a grisly sign as the day's biggest protests were just getting under way.
Hee Soon Yim, a freelance photographer for the Associated Press, said he didn't remember anything that happened. But a gash on his head, and a daunting pool of blood next to him on the ground, told the story. While he initially resisted going, Yim eventually went to the hospital to be treated.
A pool of Hee Soon Yim's blood -- and other parts of his head -- on 15th Street.
James Keivom, a freelance photographer for the New York Daily News, said that Yim was taking pictures of the policeman when he saw a police officer push Yim to the ground with his billy club. A dozen or so of the protesters tried to resist the police drive-through; a few were arrested and hauled away. But the vast majority, seeing the street splashed red with Yim's blood, backed off. Some younger protesters were crying, while others began chanting, "Shame, shame" and, "We're not violent, how about you?"
Yim wasn't the only journalist caught up in the sweep -- this reporter was sitting on his bicycle next to the curb before the police swept down the street. Before I knew what was happening, a motorcycle cop ran into me, knocking me to the ground, and I was unable to get up as officers continued to shove me down as they passed by, driving over my bike. Cops purposely kicked me as I tried in vain to get out of their way. They didn't act as if they were interested in allowing me to get back on the sidewalk and away from their boots. Cries that I was a member of the media didn't seem to mean much.
While this reporter remains generally no worse for wear, the bike's frame is bent, its rear tire is off and various parts are missing.
Meanwhile, two blocks away, at the Ellipse, near the White House, crowds seemed oblivious to the skirmish nearby. The setting was relaxed, as people held posters and a speaker railed against the alleged evils of General Electric. Here, only a handful of police officers were visible.
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