Capitol Area to be Allowed for State of the Union Protest

Organizers of a planned protest during President Bush’s State of the Union address next week reached an agreement yesterday with law enforcement officials and will now be allowed to use the area around the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool for their demonstration.

The demonstrators had initially been offered the Reflecting Pool area on the west side of the Capitol as a protest site but then were told that the site had been reclassified as part of the security perimeter for the day of Bush’s speech.

Organizers of the Tuesday protest, called "World Can’t Wait — Drive Out the Bush Regime," filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking a court order to let them hold the gathering at the Reflecting Pool. They met yesterday with police and government representatives to resolve the issue.

"The Capitol Police reassessed its security concerns regarding the area around the Capitol Reflecting Pool and withdrew its request to the U.S. Park Service to close that area during President Bush’s State of the Union address," said Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, which participated in discussions to settle the dispute.

Phillips said the nearby grassy areas on the Capitol grounds are fenced off because of turf renovation. But he said the amended permit, which will be issued by the National Park Service, will be sufficient for the group’s needs.

James R. Klimaski, an attorney for the demonstrators, said the lawsuit will be withdrawn as soon as the group receives the amended permit. A hearing was held before U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina yesterday to tell him that the matter had been resolved.

The protest group said it was told Jan. 10 that it could use the area around the Capitol Reflecting Pool for a demonstration timed to coincide with Bush’s 9 p.m. address to Congress. But on Jan. 19, organizers were told that the U.S. Capitol Police had expanded the security area to include the Reflecting Pool and that they would have to confine the demonstration to the gravel walkways between Third and Fourth streets on the Mall. The other option was to gather at Seventh Street, about a mile from the Capitol.

"A protest not seen and a protest not heard is not a protest," said Travis Morales, one of the organizers of the demonstration, who accused the Bush administration of trying to keep demonstrators far from the Capitol. He said yesterday that the Reflecting Pool area "will hold thousands more people" than the gravel walkways.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, gave no explanation yesterday for the change of position. The department, she said, "constantly re-evaluates security requirements leading up to large events."
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