Tactics shift as protest swells

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 11, 1998 by Patrick Marrin

Some 20 protesters who had only recently been released from prison, offered a short commissioning ritual for this year's procession, led by Sheen and Sr. Jackie Doepker, a Franciscan from Tiffin, Ohio, about to make her second trespass.

As the procession moved deeper onto the base, 26 buses, their engines running, lined both sides of the road about a half mile inside the fort's main entrance. As the front of the procession met a dozen armed Department of Defense Police Officers and a swarm of reporters, Sheen said, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," and extended his hand to a startled officer, who offered his own hand in a latex glove and shook Sheen's.

As the arrest process began, row after row of marchers advanced peacefully to be put on the buses. Outnumbering police and Army personnel 100-to-one, the protesters effectively policed themselves during the three-hour arrest process.

Prepared for only 1,000 violators, buses made two trips each to carry the mile-long procession first through the base and then, in a surprise move, off the base again to a city park about a mile from the main gate.

As it became clear that no one was being detained, the marchers waited quietly to be carried off the base.

"This is chaos," said one soldier, who asked not to be identified. Another soldier seemed stunned by the news that after the long standoff, no one was going to be charged for violating the no trespass rule.

Fort Benning officials proclaimed victory. Public Affairs Officer Monica Manganaro said that Maj. Gen. Carl Ernst had made the decision that morning not to process anyone after assessing the size of the protest.

A `lucky day'

"The commander has broad prerogatives to enforce the exclusion rule in varying degrees. He chose this course of action in a spirit of good will and cooperation with the protesters," Manganaro told NCR in a phone interview.

"A lot of people had a lucky day," Manganaro said. "And just because this year's protesters were not processed does not mean that the ban order is no longer in force."

In 1997, 28 repeat offenders had a very unlucky day, receiving maximum prison sentences of up to 18 months and $3,000 fines for taking part in a similar procession.

SOA Watch organizers were just as quick to declare victory. The crowd roared approval when the news reached them at the main entrance, where scores of Columbus police had been called up to insure public order and safety. Bourgeois led the cheers, then acknowledged the feeling of relief mixed with incompleteness at the Army's shift in tactics. "We need to take some time to look at strategy," he said.

Carol Richardson, co-organizer, urged the crowd to shift their sights to rallies and protests in Washington in May of 1999 where the campaign to win enough votes to close the school is the clear focus of the eight-year effort. This year's vote to cut off SOA funding fell short 212-201 in September.

As the marchers made their way full circle from the park back to the main entrance, Sheen asked a 10-year-old marcher to join him on the stage. Bernadette O'Neill of Raleigh, North Carolina, said she had marched with her father to protest the killing of children in Latin America.