RNC 2008: Poor People's March Turned Away At The Gate

Photo By John Hoff, September 2

Now swelled with numbers from the crowd at the State Capitol grounds, the Poor People's March headed for downtown...

Near Mickey's Diner, there was a tense stand-off for a moment, which I managed to record. The point where my camera goes up in the air and seems to be recording nothing for a moment is when I took note of the fact there was a traffic camera at that location, and it was probably capturing everything. Mentally, I noted the location of the diner, thinking it might be a trouble spot on the way back...which it turned out to be.

I later read how there had been "rumors" of an act of civil disobedience planned at the fenced enclosure, where the Poor People's Rally was not allowed to march even though a much bigger rally had been allowed through the day before. A lot of time was spent outside that metal gate, with the leaders pleading to be allowed to enter the fenced corridor past XCel...then speechifying about what a sad day it was when poor people, and children in strollers, couldn't make their grievances heard outside the doors of a political convention.

No "civil disobedience" happened at the gate as far as I could see. It may have been more feasible if somebody had brought a LADDER.

A lot of young people crowded around the gate and at one point I saw a youth deliberately toss a bottle-sized hunk of white cardboard high in the air. It seemed to me he was hoping to set off a bout of tear gas in this way. It didn't work.

Near the fenced enclosure, I saw this young man in a tree seeking a better view. I said to him, "Zacheus, can you see your Lord from there?"