35 Protesters Arrested at S.F. Presidio Gate
At least 35 protesters were arrested for trespassing Saturday as about 500 people marched to the main gate of the Presidio of San Francisco, protesting U.S. aid to the contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Most of the arrests took place outside the 6th U.S. Army headquarters building.
Army and city police were ready for the well-publicized noon demonstration. When the protesters marched to the Presidio’s main gate soldiers closed the gate.
At that point the protest split into two groups--those who wanted to march onto the Presidio and face arrest and those who wanted to rally at the main gate.
One group moved a block north to a vehicular entrance, which has no gate. That entrance was guarded by dozens of military police dressed in riot gear and by several dozen San Francisco police officers carrying batons. Protesters who pressed on were wrestled into a van and taken inside the base, where they were charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. They were cited and ordered to appear before a magistrate.
The protest by a group called Pledge of Resistance was directed at the Presidio because it is headquarters of the 6th Army, which coordinates training of National Guard troops on maneuvers in Honduras.
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