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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 11, 2004 A matter of perspective By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings When Secret Service helicopters began hovering above the streets of Jacksonville during President George Bush's visit to the Rogue Valley on Oct. 14, Heidi Parker knew the candlelight vigil protesters had designed would not go as planned. She was not the only one. Police clashed with protesters on oct. 14 during President Bush's visit to Jacksonville. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings "This little girl looked up at me and said 'I'm really getting afraid,'" recalled Parker, an Ashland School Board member. "I said 'I am too.' Clearly the tension was building. I didn't like the feelings it evoked in me." The premonitions Parker and the young girl experienced were right on. Approximately 100 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to control an estimated 250 demonstrators - mostly anti-Bush - on the streets of downtown Jacksonville. Two arrests were made, a less-than-lethal weapon was fired into the crowd and, by some accounts, the size of the police force rivaled the crowd. "You have to be ready to handle the situation if it erupts, and these things deteriorate in a hurry," Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said. "People, they try to paint it like we were intentionally out there, trying to infringe on their First Amendment rights. There's a balance." Still, no clear decree has come down regarding the level of police force exacted on the crowd or whether demonstrators' rights were violated. One plan In the days leading up to Bush's campaign visit to the Jackson County Fairgrounds and stay in Jacksonville, local activists Grady Boyd and Shelley Elkovich spoke with local law enforcement officials to outline a peaceful protest in Jacksonville that October night. Organizers talked to Jacksonville Police Chief David Tao three times and had one conversation with Winters. Winters stressed that protesters would need to remain on the sidewalks and could be arrested for loitering in the streets. "I had a conversation with a lady from Peace House," Winters said, referring to Boyd. "I said we won't tolerate the streets being closed down. That was all agreed upon over the phone." The discussions led organizers to believe everything was under control. "They knew every single thing we were going to do," Elkovich said. "It was not a really rowdy confrontation." The protesters had planned a candlelight vigil and came equipped with candles and glow sticks. A diverse crowd, including families with small children and elderly people, descended on Jacksonville for the peaceful assembly, which started around 5:30 p.m. with sign-making. The group gathered in a park area to sing folk songs before walking together along the sidewalks in downtown Jacksonville. "It was very peaceful and cordial, from my perspective," Parker said, remembering Jacksonville police officers smiling at the crowd and talking informally with people. "It was all very low-key, in my opinion, and not antagonistic. There was no animosity between the police and demonstrators." Changing the rules When President Bush made a last-minute switch in his dinner plans as the presidential motorcade barreled through Medford, the tone on the streets in Jacksonville also shifted. Originally, Bush and his staffers had planned he eat dinner in the cabin where he was staying with his wife, Laura. Following the rally in Central Point, Bush decided to dine at the Jacksonville Inn, right in the area of town where protesters had converged. "It was one quick shot out to Jacksonville," Winters said. "By the time the decision was communicated through channels, they were about three minutes out." The combined law enforcement brigade from the Secret Service, the Oregon State Police, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the Jacksonville Police Department, as well as extra forces brought in from the Linn-Benton County Sheriff's Department for the day, resulted in a convoluted hierarchy. Winters remained at the fairgrounds in Central Point while the Secret Service lead operations in Jacksonville. "It was a little more difficult to communicate," Winters said, explaining that the Secret Service also jams radio connections around the president, so officers had a hard time using cell phones and radios. By this time, Parker and others had chosen to leave Jacksonville because they felt the atmosphere had changed after the motorcade rolled through town. Helicopters began flying overhead with spotlights shining down on the crowd, roadblocks were being constructed on side streets and more Mobile Response Team officers - dressed in protective gear - had appeared in the crowd. "Clearly the tension was building and more and more riot police were coming," Parker said. "I started feeling really claustrophobic." The Secret Service initially requested a 1-block radius around the president, a normal expectation, according to Winters. "They eventually said they wanted people back a block and then they changed their minds," Boyd said. The zone around Bush jumped from one to three blocks when police had difficulties moving protesters back. "People were questioning why they had to back up and locking arms," Winters said, recalling scenes he'd watched on a Sheriff's Department video shot that night. "A lot of people did adhere [to requests], they really did. But it was apparent to me on the tape that that group didn't want to comply." A joint statement released by the law enforcement divisions present in Jacksonville on Oct. 14 reported approximately five men were locking arms and ignoring police requests to move back. "The vast majority of individuals complied and cooperated with law enforcement requests," the statement read. "However, after several requests had been made by law enforcement officials to disperse, a very small group of male protesters had to be pushed back by State Police MRT members. This small group became aggressive with officers and pepper balls were used to gain compliance." Among the group, two were hit with pepper balls and two were arrested - one for disorderly conduct, the other for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. "I think the video shows good restraint by the police officers," Winters said. "We could have arrested 100 of them." The sheriff's department had plans in place to handle large numbers of arrests on Oct. 14. Although other demonstrators yelled at police or were slow to comply with requests to move, officers did not arrest anyone else. "There could have been more arrests, there really could have," Winters said. "But a lot of people did adhere (to requests)." Less-than-lethal force Pepper ball guns, which became more recognizable after a female college student in Boston was shot in the eye with one during the Red Sox riots and died from her injuries in early October, were something protesters didn't expect to encounter in Jacksonville, or anywhere in Southern Oregon. "I never thought it would be like that," Elkovich said. "For me, I have been outraged. Is it OK to use these weapons on peaceful people?" Boyd, who used to teach protesters how to deal with serious situations where less-than-lethal force may be used, said she got out of larger protests such as those against the World Trade Organization because it was too violent for her. "[Nonviolent protest] is one of my main things," Boyd said. "That's why it's so sad. The spirit of this protest was just completely different." Winters believes using less-than-lethal force to control unruly crowds is justifiable and stands behind his officers, who have all received extensive training with the weapons and the situations where they could be used. "The pepper ball gun is a very surgical instrument," Winters said, explaining the weapons are used with gun sights. "It's a safer method when you have a crowd with small children because you're only going to hit what you shoot at." Although Boyd does not completely oppose less-than-lethal force, she feels the weaponry has its place in criminal instances of law enforcement. "Using them as a means of crowd control is disgusting," Boyd said. "There we were so many young people in the crowd. There were so many older people. It was just unnecessary." A final word The American Civil Liberties Union has been conducting an independent investigation of alleged violations of demonstrators' constitutional rights to assemble and reports of excessive police force, the Southern Oregon chapter of the organization stated on Thursday. Testimony and evidence was collected from protesters and witnesses following the incident on Oct. 14. "It's really important to have freedom of speech and freedom to protest," Parker said. "That's why this is so important. If we make it so people are afraid to bring their children to protests, then we've lost some very important freedoms that are vital to ensuring democracy." A report of findings was slated to be released before the holidays, but the ACLU has decided the process will not become public until Jan. 4. "The report is in its final draft and in the approval process," Elkovich said in a phone interview on Dec. 9. "By the time the ACLU goes through all of their different rubber-stamping processes, people felt like it was too close to Christmas for real news, so the press conference is scheduled for Jan. 4." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams