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Protesters Play Hardball
...Joan Gaylord, a Herald Square protester who'd already been witness to other arrests, overheard a police order for the public to disperse. She was careful to note that, as in earlier cases when protesters were rounded up and arrested, the order hadn’t come over a public announcement system, nor a bullhorn. As a result, people had been arrested without ever knowing that they were ordered to leave. Al Bond had seen similar tactics take place at Sunday's march with a large group having been split off and arrested for no apparent reason.

Gaylord escorted me out of the specified area and told me she was furious at the Republicans. "The RNC doesn’t have any business being here. It’s a Democratic city, and they only came to exploit 9/11. The Republican administration has been disastrous for NYC. They haven’t given us adequate funding, and the convention is hurting business."

After the sound of sirens and yelling abated, Gaylord told me that she works “in religion” and that she reads the bible daily. “I am enraged that Bush has used the bible for personal gain,” she told me....