Baltimore police harass rally
Bus riders boycott over fare hike
By Workers World Baltimore bureau
A massive police presence greeted community
and union activists as they gathered June 27 for a 4 p.m.
rush-hour protest on the corner of Saratoga and Eutaw Streets
in downtown Baltimore.
The All Peoples Congress and Transit Riders League had
called the protest to oppose a Mass Transit Authority plan to
increase bus fare from $1.35 to $1.60 and make cuts in bus
service. The activists also planned the activity to publicize a
call for a one-day bus boycott against the MTA on July 1.
City police lined the route the groups planned to walk to
the MTA offices at Baltimore and Light streets. A special force
of MTA police gathered at the corner where protesters set up a
picket line. Immediately city police threatened to arrest
members of the group if they used a hand-held bullhorn for
chanting.
Despite police intimidation, bus riders continued to take
flyers and shouted their approval of the protest. Demonstrators
chanted as loudly as possible. Police continued to harass the
group, yelling at them to keep walking despite the
participation of several activists in wheelchairs and elderly
people who used canes and needed to rest in the sweltering
weather.
Some who tried to get to the action later reported they were
not able to get past the heavy police presence.
At 5 p.m. demonstrators arrived at the state office
building, which houses the MTA offices. In addition to city
police, the group encountered dozens of state police.
State Sen. Verna Jones addressed the group, along with local
ministers and community activists. Police then grabbed Sharon
Ceci, a volunteer coordinator for the bus boycott and organizer
for the All Peoples Congress, telling her that they were
writing a criminal citation for the use of a sound system.
Bill Henry, a well-known community activist and aide to
former City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, complained that
this was unconstitutional and illegal behavior on the part of
the police. He used the bullhorn to say that if they were going
to cite Ceci, then they should cite everyone.
All the protesters agreed. Police then began to write up
citations for Ralph Moore, a long-time community activist,
chairperson Eugene Peterson of the Transit Rider's League and
several other participants. When the police realized that close
to 50 people had lined up to be cited, they appeared frustrated
and angry.
The police captain in charge approached activist Jeff
Bigelow, who was holding the bullhorn. The captain shouted,
"M-----r f----r, none of you are going to get away with this.
You are under arrest for assault."
Bigelow, a union organizer with AFSCME Council 92, was taken
away in handcuffs. He was charged with assault and use of a
sound system. The police confiscated the group's bullhorn.
Without a megaphone, Ceci gathered the crowd: "What the
police have done here today is illegal and unconstitutional. We
will not be silenced. It is not we who should be arrested or
given citations. Instead it should be Maryland Secretary of
Transportation Robert Flanagan and Gov. Robert Ehrlich for
jeopardizing the welfare of thousands of bus riders and
low-wage workers. Layoffs, cutbacks, war and racism are a
crime. Community activists who are speaking out against bus
fare hikes are not the criminals.
"It is important that we keep our movement together and that
we remain strong. Ehrlich is about to lay off thousands of
workers and cut social programs while President George Bush can
spend billions to wage war and occupy Iraq. We will not be
intimidated."
She motivated those gathered to attend the July 28 hearing
of the six people given criminal citations.
Bus boycott
The activist group gathered the following morning to
continue its efforts to organize for the July 1 bus boycott.
Renee Washington, Betsy Oakes and Sharon Ceci met with
volunteer drivers and bus riders to plan a boycott
orientation.
Florence Gross came to the group's headquarters to talk
about her hardships as a Baltimore bus rider. She is a
private-duty nurse who must leave her apartment each day at
4:15 a.m. to be able to get to work by 6:30 a.m.
Gross explained that the buses are packed at that time in
the morning. Most people have to stand and in many cases the
air-conditioning doesn't work. "If the bus doesn't show up,"
she related, "I have to take a cab, which can cost me as much
as $15, more than I make in two hours' time at work."
She rides each morning with a score of people going to
Curtis Bay to work in factories making dog food and clothing or
to do private-duty work. All of her fellow riders have heard
about the boycott, either on the radio or through flyers and
posters. They are in support.
Gross, who had come to the office to arrange transportation
for those at her bus stop, also related these hardships to a
number of young people who were active in the recent protests
against the war. They had come into the office to pick up
orange signs that read "Boycott vehicle" and "Justice for bus
riders."
After hearing first-hand the conditions of bus riders, young
anti-war activist Tara Cariso volunteered to come to the All
Peoples Congress Hall for the 4 a.m. shift.
This campaign has brought together young people from the
anti-war movement, bus riders who have never participated in
community activities, union organizers and community
activists.
Following driver orientation, volunteers went into the
community to distribute boycott flyers in English and Spanish.
On June 29, the group distributed flyers to churches denouncing
the police attack.
The All Peoples Congress is calling on groups and
individuals to telephone, fax or email Mayor Martin O'Malley to
condemn the police action at the June 27th protest. Phone (410)
396-3835, fax (410) 576-9435, email mayor@baltimorecity.gov.
The group is requesting a meeting with the mayor to demand
that constitutional rights for the civil rights, union and
anti-war movements be guaranteed and police harassment and
intervention be ended.
Reprinted from the July 10, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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