According to the Daily Paul website, early Monday morning, August 23, five anti-war protesters wearing black shirts that read “Disobey,” attempted to block six buses carrying troops from Ft. Hood’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment deploying to Iraq. The activists, including two veterans of the war in Iraq, one veteran of Afghanistan, and one military spouse, “took the width of Clarke Road” by Clarke gate, briefly halting the buses.
No arrests were made, but the group, calling itself “Ft. Hood Disobeys,” had to be forced out of the street by police and MPs who used dogs and weapons to move them from the intersection to the sidewalk. The protesters held signs saying “Occupation is a Crime” and “Please Don’t Make the Same Mistake We Did. RESIST NOW.” They were supported by others from the nearby Texas Highway 190 overpass who attempted to hang banners.
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In an article found on votersforpeace.us, one of the participants — who is also a director of Iraq Veterans Against the War — wrote, “This latest deployment comes less than two weeks after President Obama announced the second end to combat operations in Iraq. FHD (Ft. Hood Disobeys) organizers denounced this as a lie, and pointed to the deployment of the 3rd ACR, a combat regiment, to Iraq as clear proof. They have stated they will continue to organize direct action in the Fort Hood community to oppose the wars as long as troops continue to deploy.”
Some rough video of the event can be found on rawstory.com. The site includes an article indicating the group had fully expected to be arrested. When this did not take place, their consensus was that officials were under orders not to arrest them. Stated one protester, “They would have elevated our message by doing that…. They didn’t want to give us the credibility of being arrested.”
In a prepared statement, base officials said, “Acting to protect Department of Defense personnel and equipment, Fort Hood Police physically moved the demonstrators away from the intersection to the sidewalk and were released without incident and the bus convoy continued [to the airport].”
Photo: AP Images
