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Anti-NATO badge during an
anti-Nato protest march to
Boeing Headquarters in
Chicago May 21, 2012.-
Reuters Photo CHICAGO: Anti-war
protesters staged a
peaceful march on the
headquarters of US
defense contractor Boeing
in Chicago on Monday after several days of
demonstrations during a
meeting of Nato leaders. Between 200 and 300
demonstrators, some
throwing paper planes,
gathered in a festive
atmosphere that contrasted
with fierce clashes with police that led to dozens of arrests
and a number of injuries on
Sunday. Occupy Chicago, the local
chapter of the loose-knit anti-
Wall Street Occupy
movement, had promised to
shut down Boeing Co's
headquarters, which it called "Nato's war machine," and
demanded the alliance stop
military operations around
the world. "There's absolutely nothing
that could happen in the
streets at a protest that holds
a candle to the death and
destruction caused by Nato to
families and communities all around the world," said
Rachel Perrotta of Occupy
Chicago. The demonstrators gathered
only briefly outside Boeing's
building and then moved on. A Boeing spokesman said
most of the 500 employees
had been urged to stay home
and work remotely. Metal
barricades protected ground-
level windows at the headquarters building, which
was guarded by police and
security guards. "We want people to be safe.
The office is open today
though we've encouraged
people to work remotely
from home," said Boeing
spokesman John Dern. Police said they arrested 45
protesters on Sunday, most of
them in a melee at the
conclusion of a largely
peaceful march by 3,000
protesters to the edge of a security zone around the Nato
summit site. Four police
officers had minor injuries. A lawyers' group defending
the protesters said more than
60 were arrested and two
dozen injured by police using
batons on protesters who had
been ordered to leave. One protester sustained a head
wound requiring 10 stitches,
another suffered a broken
collarbone, and a third had
teeth knocked out, said Kris
Hermes of the group National Lawyers Guild. He denied police allegations
that protesters faked injuries
by pouring red paint on
themselves. Police defended their tactics,
saying the permit for the rally
and march had expired, and
the streets needed to cleared. Officers were also defending
themselves from assaults by
protesters, Police Chief Garry
McCarthy said. The Occupy movement, which
sprung up last year in New
York and other US cities to
protest against the unfair
distribution of wealth
between rich and poor, had been planning demonstrations
in Chicago for several months. But several officials in the city
said the number of protesters
arriving in Chicago to protest
during the two-day Nato
summit had been lower than
many expected. One reason may have been
the decision to relocate a
summit of the G8 leaders, held
on Friday and Saturday, from
Chicago to the presidential
retreat at Camp David just north of Washington. Some downtown Chicago
businesses remained closed on
Monday, the final day of the
summit.
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