Tuesday, May 23, 1972
179 Protesters Arrested In D.C.
WASHINGTON (UPI) --Police arrested 179 demonstrators Sunday during a series of skirmishes with rock-throwing splinter groups from a Capitol Hill peace rally that was conducted in otherwise orderly fashion.The bulk of an estimated 7,000 participants carefully stayed away from the clashes between the small unruly groups and police who twice used teargas to control the situation.Most of the arrests occurred when a band of chanting demonstrators bearing red flags marched away from the rally toward the business section. They were intercepted three blocks away at the intersection of Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues and taken in custody on charges of parading without a permit.In all, 176 were arrested on the parading without a permit charge and 3 others for other offenses in the more violent confrontations in which several hundred militants threw bricks, bottles and sticks at police who used teargas in response.Washington Police Chief Jerry Wilson, who estimated the crowd at 7,000 was struck at least three times by missiles. He showed newsmen a small cut on his forehead and bruises on his arm and leg. The badge on his cap also was dented.One Capitol police private, F.W. Welch, suffered a more serious hand injury when struck by a brick. In all, about a dozen officers were injured.Wilson summoned special riot squads to clear a street at the foot of Capitol Hill when a group of defiant demonstrators momentarily set fire to a small information booth.When the barrage of stones, bottles and sticks continued, police fired at least 10 rounds of tear gas to drive off their assailants.Meanwhile at the rally, 400 feet away, Julius Hobson, a black community leader, took the microphone to appeal for restraint."Please do not confront the policemen," he implored. The orderly section of the crowd remained calm but crowded nearer the rostrum to stay out of the trouble zone.The Capitol itself was ordered closed at 2:35 p.m. while the police and demonstrator confrontation was going on.The outbreaks occurred as a series of 29 speakers went to the rostrum to denounce President Nixon's latest war actions and to demand the United States get out of Vietnam.The rally at the foot of Capitol Hill was a prelude to an effort by demonstrators on Monday to blockade the Pentagon where a more serious confrontation was in prospect."179 Protesters Arrested in D.C.", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Tuesday, May 23, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.