by A
Thursday, Aug. 04, 2005 at 3:36 AM
Approximately 45 people protested Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld's appearance at the Beverly Hilton hotel today.
QuickTime movie at 1.2 mebibytes
The demonstration was organized with only one day’s notice, never the less it was still a success. What activists may have lacked in numbers, was more than made up for in spirit and some direct action by CodePink inside of the hall.
Jim Lafferty of the National Lawyer’s Guild successfully challenged a City of Beverly Hills ordinance on the length of picket sign poles. This allowed protesters to continue their protest and display their signs and banners.
CodePink activists along with others were able to enter the hall and attempted to address the Secretary of Defense directly. A Gold Star mother, who lost her son in Iraq tried to ask the Secretary some questions only to be removed from the hall. In fact anyone in the hall who asked questions or made statements critical of the war was removed by the Secret Service.