7 war protesters forced onto street, the ACLU claims
Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 10, 2003 12:00 AM

The Arizona Civil Liberties Union said Sunday that seven war protesters who were arrested for obstructing traffic Saturday were forced onto the street by a police officer on an agitated horse.

But Sgt. Lauri Williams, a Phoenix police spokeswoman, said the protesters were in the middle of the street on six occasions, dancing at times, before police arrested them.

"We don't believe they were forced into the street," Williams said.

The police have video of the event and will review it, she said.

"One particular officer rode his horse onto the sidewalk, pushed them onto the street and then arrested them," said Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Valley affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The police . . . need to make sure people can exercise their First Amendment rights, rather than to interfere with our First Amendment rights."

Dressed in riot gear, police arrested six men and one woman near Second and Roosevelt streets, charging them with obstructing a public thoroughfare, and booked them into Madison Street Jail, Eisenberg said.

Joel Olson, 35, was videotaping police arresting two protesters when he was taken into custody.

He said the group was making a "good-faith attempt to be on the sidewalk."

"There was no attempt to block the intersection; I think these are the early victims of the war on Iraq," said Olson, a member of Copwatch, a Valley group that videotapes police to prevent brutality and racism.