Judge Tours Contested DNC Protest Route, Location
Activists Say Location Unsafe And Unfair
POSTED: 6:32 pm EDT July 21,
2004
UPDATED: 8:00 pm EDT July 21,
2004
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BOSTON -- Groups planning to demonstrate during the Democratic National Convention next week say they're being kept too far away from the convention site, and pushed into a dangerous pen.
NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that federal Judge Douglas Woodlock decided to check out their complaints in person Wednesday with a tour of the city's parade route for the activists.The activists filed a lawsuit asking for an alternate parade route that is safer and closer to the convention."This is new -- razor wire, which I guess went up this morning. I didn't see it when I looked at it yesterday," said Jonathan Shapiro, an attorney for the protestors.Lawyers for political groups who want to protest the Democrats and the delegates up close say the city never told them about the barbed wire, 8-foot fences or net covering."Over and over again in discussions, the city of Boston, the police, emphasized that they were not going to put demonstrators in a pen. Overhead wire, tracks overhead, double row of fencing -- this is the definition of a pen," said Jeff Feuer, of the National Lawyer's Guild.The city's parade route channels the protestors through the fenced enclosure and under two MBTA Green Line girders. One of the enclosure's exits is under a girder that is no higher than 5 feet 9 inches.During the tour, the judge asked the city's lawyer how many exits are required under the state building codes for a crowd of 4,000 people.With little time left to make changes, the judge is expected to make a decision in the next few days.
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