Protests cancel ‘urban war games’
Baltimore community stops Navy SEALS
By Sharon
Black-Ceci
Baltimore
Community, labor and anti-war activists scored a major
victory Aug. 21 when Navy officials announced they would not
conduct military exercises at the vacant Memorial Stadium in
Baltimore's Northeast community.
On Aug. 17, the Navy had announced that its Special
Warfare Forces, including the elite Navy SEALS, planned to
conduct military exercises at Memorial Stadium. The exercises
were to simulate combat against an "urban uprising."
The City Board of Estimates granted permission to the Navy
to use the public facility at no charge.
Local residents and activists were outraged. Myles Hoenig
from the Waverly Improvement Association was concerned about
the noise level, possible property damage and disruption to
the community.
The All-Peoples Congress, International Action Center,
Baltimore Emergency Response Network, Unity for Action and
other groups announced plans for a demonstration in front of
the stadium for the following Wednesday, Aug. 23.
Dennis Chornowski, a spokesperson for the City Department
of Public Works, said Navy officials pointed to the publicity
as the reason for canceling.
"They were not happy about it. It's really a shame because
it would have given them an opportunity to do training in a
real-world situation," Chornowski said.
Local activists believe it was the threat of mass
protests, fueled by community anger over rampant police
terror and other government attacks, that forced the Pentagon
to back off.
Andre Powell, spokesperson for the All-Peoples Congress,
explained: "Our group's office is just blocks away from the
area where the Navy wanted to conduct these exercises. We had
vowed to do everything in our power to shut it down.
"There are many issues at stake here. Why did the city
choose to allow military exercises to take place in a
predominately African American, working-class neighborhood?
Why not the wealthy area of Roland Park?
"How can the city justify millions of dollars being spent
on the military when it cannot feed the homeless and hungry
right here in the Waverly community?
"Who does the Navy intend to target when they train for
'urban warfare'? Obviously, their targets are communities
just like this one."
Jeff Bigelow, an organizer for the State, County and
Municipal Employees union and a representative of the
Baltimore/Washington International Action Center, said:
"There is a growing movement to shut down military bases that
are causing havoc all around the world, from Vieques to
Okinawa to Maehyang-ri.
"While the Navy's plans for Baltimore were not on the
scale of what it has done in Vieques, we nevertheless had
vowed to stop it.
"We consider this a people's victory."
The All-Peoples Congress will hold a community meeting
Aug. 24 to discuss the victory. There will also be eyewitness
reports from the anti-base struggle in south Korea and
protests at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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