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Protesters Decry War-Supply Shipments
By Carolyn Jones
The San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday 08 April 2007
About 100 veterans and anti-war activists gathered at the Port of Oakland on
Saturday to demand that the port stop shipping military equipment to Iraq.
Toting signs reading "Stop the War Machine," protesters called on
the port to spend some of its $33 billion budget on Oakland schools, health
care and social services, and to stop shipping military supplies that support
the war.
"To me, it's an opportunity to educate people about their public resources
and make a decision if those resources are used in a moral way," said Wes
Hamilton, a Vietnam War veteran from Olympia, Wash. "We have a right to
oppose the use of our ports for military uses and express this nonviolently."
The peaceful rally contrasted with an anti-war protest held at the port four
years ago, when Oakland police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into a crowd
of about 500 protesters and longshoremen, arresting 31 and injuring dozens.
Oakland police had a strong presence at Saturday's rally, but there were no
arrests.
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