Battle royal brewing at Berkeley council meeting, by Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
The ruckus started last week when the council voted to send a letter to the Marines, calling them “unwanted intruders” for opening the recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue last year. At the same time, the council granted Code Pink a parking space and a sound permit to make it easier for the peace group to conduct protests outside the center. ** “We’re starting to get people coming in from all over the U.S.,” said Catherine Moy, executive director of Move America Forward, one of several pro-military groups planning an all-day protest Tuesday at Maudelle Shirek City Hall. “People are pretty upset. We want to avoid clashes, but it could be really, really big. We don’t really know what’s going to happen.” ** Peace groups, disgusted that the council would cave in to pressure from the pro-military groups, plan to host their own rally, an “emergency 24-hour peace-in vigil,” complete with singing, drums and dialogue. ** “We want to protect our city from the onslaught of the right wing,” said Code Pink spokeswoman Zanne Joi. “We’re facing people who are willing to kill or send other people’s children to kill to get what they want. We understand the reality of that, and we’re prepared to face that in a nonviolent way.” ** City officials were deluged with hundreds of irate e-mails, some containing death threats. Moy said her group got so many e-mails its Web site crashed. ** Both sides will be protesting at Tuesday’s meeting. Code Pink and its allies plan to camp out on the lawn at City Hall beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, while Move America Forward, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other pro-military groups plan to rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Park across the street starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Gonna be a hot time in the old town on Tuesday! Stay safe out there.