DEMONSTRATORS BLOCK CAR OF GEN. TOMMY FRANKS;
LOS ANGELES SCHOOL IS SITE OF DRAMATIC CONFRONTATION
by don white
LOS ANGELES [April 19, 2005] A small but militant
group of anti-war protesters confronted retired Iraqi
war general Tommy Franks this morning as he left a
student assembly at Logan Street Elementery School in
the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
General Franks, attempting to leave the school in an
SUV with tinted windows, was totally blocked by
protesters who climbed onto the hood and body of the
car and blocked his departure with banners, signs and
their own bodies. "War criminal! Murderer of the Iraqi
People!" and other chants were directed at the car as
it remained immobilized in the middle of the street.
Parents and community people, outraged by the
appearance of the general, joined in the direct
confrontation which came as the vehicle was leaving
campus. A father whose son was killed in the Iraqi
war reported after the episode, "I looked Franks right
in the eye and told him he killed my boy." Veterans
of the Iraqi war also reported that they were able to
see into the lightly tinted windows and address Franks
with their comments.
Protesters were nudged by the driver but no injuries
and no arrests took place. Police made an exit route
for the general's car.
The protest, called and organized in a three-hour
time frame, came about when parents, teachers and
community members learned of the appearance of General
Franks at the school. The school's administration and
Los Angeles Unified School District officials kept the
appearance a secret from the community.
"We had no idea this was going to happen," a veteran
teacher told reporters. A parent commented, "I didn't
know a military man was speaking to our children
today; we should have been told," she told KNX Radio
News in an interview. Many parents, speaking in
Spanish, told protesters they did not like the idea of
the military being on campus promoting that option to
their young people.
Logan Street is a grade school in a working class,
heavily immigrant community just west of downtown Los
Angeles. The general was brought to the campus by a
non-profit pro-military foundation which arranges
celebrity appearances.
The school was in full lockdown as demonstrators
arrived at 11:00 a.m. No community people were
allowed on campus and signs indicating a press
conference were at main entrances.
About 25 loud and lively demonstrators carried signs
and banners with various messages:
---NO GENERALS TEACHING WAR; TEACH PEACE
---DON'T RECRUIT OUR FIFTH GRADERS FOR THE WAR
---ROTC AND GENERALS OFF CAMPUS
---LOGAN STREET HAS SOLD OUT ITS STUDENTS
and other protest signs. Several organizations in the
peace movement sent representatives and community
people joined the activity.
Los Angeles Unified District police threatened to
take one protester into custody if she did not provide
her name and personal information. After a lengthy
exchange she did so under protest. Logan Street
vice-principal had reported, "She twice requested to
come on campus and we are afraid she will disrupt."
The protester denied she did anything illegal or
provocative and a legal observer from the National
Lawyer's Guild said an inquiry would probably be made
at school district headquarters.
The situation grew tense when protesters angrily
confronted administrators at the school for providing
General Franks as a role model for fifth graders. The
event ended shortly after General Franks left the
campus.



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