TakeItToTheBridge: GG Bridge District Attempting Free Speech Clamp Down

According to the Golden Gate Bridge District Manager Kary Witt, the anti-war mobilization cannot happen after 12 noon on Saturday 5/25 due to traffic concerns, despite the fact that march organizers submitted their permit application weeks ago proposing a 2pm march across the bridge. Witt stated that no banners, bullhorns, flags, or signs bigger than 3'x2' would be allowed, and all signs must be hand held -- and that if the mobilization drew more than 50 people onto the bridge, then no signs would be permitted whatsoever. This is the Bridge District's position even though American flag-wavers are allowed access to the bridge every day. Organizers from the Bay Area-based All Peoples' Coalition described the decision as an attack on free speech and their right to oppose the U.S. government's war policies.

The All Peoples' Coalition first sought a permit for their mobilization weeks ago, out of their concern for the safety and security of the march participants -- given the present U.S. government's tendency to attack any resistance to its policies under the auspices of its so-called "war on terrorism." Organizers' attempts to meet with the Bridge Manager to discuss their permit were put off until Tuesday 5/14, when a meeting was scheduled for Friday 5/17. This was the first time that the Bridge Manager raised the inflexibility regarding the time and nature of the event.

Bridge authorities seem disinclined to allow the "Golden Gate" to be used as a forum to express dissent at U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Their present de facto policy, according to organizers, is that "Our Golden Bridge is for tourists, Marines with assault rifles, and American flag-wavers only." Meanwhile the All Peoples' Coalition continues to call for thousands of people to converge on the bridge on May 25th to stand against U.S. government war and terror and to send a message to the international community.