Rush-Hour Rally:
Warren Langley, Former President of the Pacific Exchange
Arrested at His 1st Protest

JOE GAROFOLI / SF Chronicle 15mar03

War protesters tie up Financial District -- 80 held

mindfully.org note:
This is a call to all patriotic citizens of the United States to stop the madness of the Bush administration. 
When the money-makers know it's time, then it's certainly almost too late. 

San Francisco -- Police arrested 80 protesters, including a former president of the Pacific Exchange, during nonviolent protests that knotted up morning rush-hour traffic Friday in San Francisco's Financial District.

Warren Langley, Former President of the Pacific Exchange

Anti-war activists called it a preview of the "shutdown" of the Financial District being called for on the first business day after a U.S. attack on Iraq. Some of those stuck in the ensuing traffic jam on Market Street called it "pointless" and "misdirected."

But activists were thrilled with the results, particularly because planning for the demonstration didn't begin until late Monday night.

"It's fantastic," said Patrick Reinsborough, an organizer with Direct Action to Stop the War, the loosely organized group of activists behind the protest. The group is also planning the "day after" civil disobedience in San Francisco.

Scanning the more than two dozen Municipal Railway buses and streetcars idling along Market Street, stopped by 35 protesters sitting in the intersection at Battery Street, Reinsborough said, "We've given people a taste of what it will be like on the day after."

Although dozens of protesters chanting, "No business as usual," were arrested outside the Pacific Exchange, trading inside was unaffected, said spokesman Jon Werts. Many traders already were at work by 5:30 a.m., 90 minutes before protesters blocked the doors.

Fifty-nine protesters were cited for misdemeanors, mainly failure to follow an officer's orders and blocking a roadway. All were released from county jail by afternoon, said sheriff's spokeswoman Eileen Hirst. Police said the other 21 people were juveniles and were cited elsewhere.

Police and organizers estimated that anywhere from 150 to 250 demonstrators showed up to blockade the Pacific Exchange and two intersections in the Financial District. The star of the day, however, was former Pacific Exchange president Warren Langley.

He drew the loudest applause from activists who arrived at 6:30 a.m. in front of the exchange's old offices near Sansome and Pine streets.

"People ask me who I'm representing," Langley said. "I'm representing the establishment. And there are a lot of other people out there who feel like I do. Now is the time to take the next step in speaking your conscience."

After he and others marched to the exchange's current offices on Montgomery Street and linked arms to blockade its entrance, fellow protester Maria Elena Martinez hugged him.

"It means so much to have him here," Martinez said. Pointing to the surrounding skyscrapers in the city's financial heart, she said, "He represents all this."

Dressed in a dark-gray suit, blue shirt and patterned red silk tie, Langley admitted being a little nervous as he stood in front of the exchange that he had presided over from 1996 to 1999.

This was the first protest for the 1965 graduate of the Air Force Academy, and the retired lieutenant colonel couldn't eat anything for breakfast. As instructed by his activists, he was carrying only his identification, cell phone, a little cash and the phone number of his attorney.

"It is a bit of an out-of-body experience being out here," said Langley, who completed his civil disobedience training Thursday night. "I told people that if we're stuck in jail for a while, I'll teach a course on the stock market."

Shortly after 8:30 a.m., Langley was sitting in the intersection of Montgomery and Bush chanting, "No business as usual," with a few dozen other protesters. Linked on one arm was former Army paratrooper Eric Johansson, of Veterans for Peace, and on the other was Mary Bull, one of the Bay Area's leading civil disobedience organizers. Minutes later, they all were arrested.

"No way, no, I'd never believe that Warren would do this when I worked with him (as general counsel) at the exchange," said John Katovich, who now runs his own financial services firm.

Friday, Katovich was standing by to bail out his old friend. "He got me to come out here today. I'm here in support of Warren and what he's saying."

Activists said the event was the kickoff to a week of civil disobedience planned around the country. In Sacramento, 22 people were arrested after blocking the entrance to the federal courthouse.

Next week, protests are planned at the U.S. Capitol and the United Nations. Today, activists will train newcomers in nonviolent civil disobedience at Jefferson Square Park, where a peace rally is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Some who support the White House's policy on Iraq said Friday's Financial District demonstrators were misguided and doing little more than annoying people on their way to work.

"I understand what they're trying to do," Chris Campbell, 39, a self- described conservative, said as he watched the Market and Battery protest. "But doing this isn't going to change anybody's mind in Washington."

Ten Muni lines were rerouted, but several of the historic streetcar F-lines were stranded on their Market Street rails for more than 90 minutes, said Muni spokesman Alan Siegel.

Manual Lomboy, a stranded Golden Gate Transit bus driver who let 30 of his passengers off early, said, "My daughter's headed to Afghanistan (with the U.S.

Army), that's how I feel. These people aren't going to make her any safer."

ANTI-WAR RALLY
Today's anti-war event in San Francisco begins at 11 a.m. when protesters will gather in Civic Center Plaza for a noon march to Jefferson Square Park. Streets along, and crossing, the route will be closed to traffic as the march passes.

TRANSIT INFORMATION
The Municipal Railway will reroute six bus lines in the area beginning at 11 a.m. The lines are the 5-Fulton, 19-Polk, 21-Hayes, 31-Balboa, 47-Van Ness and 49-Van Ness/Mission.

BART
will run longer and additional trains in addition to its regular Saturday service. Round-trip flash passes will be sold at the 24th Street, Colma, Dublin/Pleasanton, Rockridge, Ashby, El Cerrito del Norte and North Berkeley stations. At 11 other stations, customers purchasing a round-trip ticket to downtown San Francisco may have it converted to a flash pass. BART urges all participants to buy tickets in advance. -- Golden Gate Transit will add ferries from Larkspur to the Ferry Building at 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10: 15 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 1 p.m. in addition to its regular Saturday schedule. Advance ticket purchases are recommended.

Chronicle staff writer Lynda Gledhill contributed to this report.