report delle 15 e 56 ora di New York (foto Reuters)
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Tens of thousands protest GOP convention
About 50 arrests reported
Sunday, August 29, 2004 Posted: 3:56 PM EDT (1956 GMT)
Protesters move through the streets of Manhattan on Sunday, the eve of the Republican National Convention in New York.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators carrying signs and chanting "No More Bush" marched Sunday past Madison Square Garden, the site of this week's Republican National Convention.
The march was sponsored by United for Peace and Justice, a group opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Organizers had predicted as many as 250,000 demonstrators would take part.
Many participants said they hoped a large crowd at Sunday's protest would send a message to the rest of the country. "We want to take charge and reach the right people and influence them to go on and spread the message that this is a corrupt government," Rich Cahill, a protester from New Jersey said. (Sources: NYPD, protest group agree on rally site)
New York police have made "about 50" arrests, according to a law enforcement source.
There were no reports of violence, and fewer than a dozen people had been taken to a police holding pen on 57th Street.
Actress Rosario Dawson was one of those arrested, according to a production company shooting a movie in the midst of the march.
A New York Police Department spokesperson said they had no information about Dawson being arrested.
Some of the marchers were met by a small number of counterdemonstrators who chanted "Four More Years" in support of the Bush administration.
Before the march, many gathered for a rally in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, south of the convention site.
"We are the majority," filmmaker Michael Moore told the crowd.
"A majority of this country opposes this war ... a majority of this country never voted for this administration."
Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, said the message revolves around the word no.
"We are saying 'no' to the Bush agenda, 'no' to the war in Iraq, 'no' to the regime change by our government, 'no' to preemptive war, 'no' to the economic policies," Cagan said.
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, along with Moore, led the protest march as it began on Seventh Avenue.
"We have an obligation to speak out until we can raise our heads above the sands of Iraq and Afghanistan," Jackson said.
"No weapons of mass destruction, we seek to rationalize the war. We challenge Mr. Bush to choose another course."
The wide avenue was a sea of protesters with signs and banners from 23rd Street to 34th Street and across to Fifth Avenue.
Police set up barricades on either side of the marchers' route, which will end in Union Square Park.
Many demonstrators also were expected to gather later in Central Park.
