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Police to keep protests in place
Posted: Friday April 11, 2003 10:15 PM
Updated: Saturday April 12, 2003 4:00 AM
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Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength meets with protesters and media at the demonstration field a half-mile from the Augusta National Golf Club entrance. AP |
By Heidi Coryell Williams
The Augusta Chronicle
More than 100 police officers will provide the protection protesters need today at two designated demonstration sites, Sheriff Ronnie Strength announced Friday from the edge of a 5.1-acre field - shouting over the din of traffic from nearby Washington Road.
Demonstrators who decide to stray from the designated protest sites - individually or in small groups - will be arrested, Sheriff Strength said.
"We do not want to arrest anyone," he said. "We're not here for that, and we don't think the groups want to be arrested. But if any laws are violated, we will take that person into custody."
The pre-protest meeting - designed by law enforcement to provide last-minute details for expected demonstrators - was attended by only a handful of activists and about 30 media representatives.
The field the sheriff spoke from fronts Washington Road - the four-lane thoroughfare that leads to Augusta National Golf Club - but is about a half-mile away from the course. It is the primary area for demonstrations planned for today, although a secondary location has been approved for a single group at Wheeler Road and Highland Avenue.
"The applications have been approved for this site," the sheriff said. "To break up into groups at the Augusta National would be a violation."
The sheriff's message was duly noted and will be delivered to activists in both the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the National Council of Women's Organizations, said local attorney Jack Batson. He represents both civil rights groups on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and attended the meeting Friday morning.
The groups have opposed Augusta National's all-male membership and have requested permission to protest the club today during the third round of the Masters Tournament.
Asked whether his clients would heed the sheriff's caveat, Mr. Batson said: "As a lawyer, I'm not going to tell somebody to go get arrested."
He said he "clearly disagrees" with the sheriff's interpretation of a federal court order issued this week that ruled protesters cannot congregate near Augusta National's front gates. Mr. Batson said his disagreement with the ruling will be pursued in court. An appeal is pending before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
If individual protesters take issue with that interpretation during today's protest, "people will have to make a decision" on their own about any action that may result in arrest, Mr. Batson said.
Police cars, staffed by sheriff's deputies and Georgia State Patrol officers, will be used to separate opposing protest groups on the grassy site. Groups that did not attend Friday's meeting will be assigned spots for their individual demonstrations, officers said.
Although Martha Burk, the chairwoman of the women's organization, was in town Friday, she did not attend the meeting. Instead, Alice Cohan - a protest coordinator and the leader of the Washington, D.C., women's rights group Feminist Majority Federation - ticked off a list of questions for law enforcement officials, including the rules about sound systems.
"People need to feel like they have a real exercise of their free speech," she told sheriff's officials, regarding her desire to set up a sound system, which apparently is being limited to the use of bullhorns.
Ms. Cohan said a small group of protesters from Ms. Burk's group practiced earlier this week in Atlanta for today's protest.
Also attending the planning meeting was Todd Manzi, of Tampa, Fla., who founded the anti-Burk Web site theBurkstopshere.com. Dave Walker, a pro-war protester from Atlanta, also attended, as did a representative from the anti-Jesse Jackson group Brotherhood Organization for a New Destiny.
A small showing from the group People Against Ridiculous Protests stopped by the site, wearing white stickers that read "PARP" in black letters, but not because they plan to protest today.
"I think they're just going to leave a sign," Richmond County sheriff's Maj. Ken Autry said.
Copyright 2003 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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