More Color Than Clash at Protests

A mostly peaceful procession of demonstrators marched through the downtown streets here Sunday, espousing causes from campaign finance reform to the U.S. embargo of Iraq, but the size of the protest was much smaller than anticipated.

Many of the protesters wore colorful costumes and carried oversized puppets at the event, dubbed Unity 2000 and designed as a family-oriented gathering without civil disobedience. Sponsored by more than 200 organizations, the march included union delegations walking a few feet ahead of black-clad, masked anarchists.

Some of the protesters used attention-grabbing tactics to express their views as hundreds of delegates arrived in the city for the Republican National Convention. Members of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade set fire to an American flag, and animal-rights activists blockaded a Philly cheese steak booth, one of a number of concession stands set up at the end of the parade route near the city’s historic Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Notwithstanding those two incidents, police were optimistic that Sunday’s relative calm signaled a similar, quieter-than-expected turnout for other protests scheduled this week.

“So far, so good,” said Police Commissioner John F. Timoney, who rode alongside demonstrators on his bicycle. “My sense is that the vast majority of folks here want to voice their opinion and get their message out, but we know there are a few who are going to do some other things.”

Law enforcement authorities, who are braced for a week of accelerating protests as the convention unfolds, estimated that Sunday’s kickoff demonstration drew between 3,000 and 5,000 people, less than half the number event organizers had expected. But some participants said the crowd size was at least 12,000.

Sunday’s event mixed the serious with the whimsical.

Among the “Stop police brutality” and “Ralph Nader for president” signs, there was one hand-lettered placard that read: “Web designers for economic justice.”

One human rights group carried a large puppet of a crying woman, symbolizing the mothers who have lost their children to violence in Central and South America. Two animal rights activists wore furry pink pig and yellow chick costumes, and about 30 mock “Billionaires for Bush and Gore” wore tuxedos and evening gowns.

As the smell of burning incense and sage wafted through the crowd, some participants sang folk songs and pounded on large water bottles turned into makeshift drums.

“The left has been splintered in this country for a very long time,” said David Corson-Knowles, a student activist from Yale University. “This protest is a sign it’s coming back.”

A range of speakers, from National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland to conservative writer Arianna Huffington, addressed the crowd from a stage near the art museum. “The thing we have in common is the political establishment cannot bury us,” Jerry Brown, a student activist, told the crowd.

Anti-poverty activists are planning another march today, but they did not receive a city permit. Organizers said they hope to bring a halt to traffic as they march along one of the main streets leading up to the convention site. Other protests are slated for Tuesday and Wednesday.