Protest Outside Convention Leads to Standoff With Police

Source: The caucus

7:15 p.m. | Updated CHARLOTTE, N.C. – An antiwar march at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday afternoon led to a standoff with the police, one arrest and ultimately a peaceful protest through the streets of Charlotte.

About 200 protesters began the march, with tensions quickly rising when the police formed a barricade in the middle of an intersection a few blocks from the convention site. Hundreds of police officers surrounded the protesters, and John Rhodes Penley, 60, of Asheville, N.C., was arrested when he tried to climb over a police bicycle being used to block the demonstration. He was charged with breaching a police line and barricade.

Mr. Penley, who said he was a Navy veteran, had been carrying an American flag at the front of the protest.

“We want Bradley Manning freed,” Mr. Penley said as he was handcuffed, a reference to the Army intelligence analyst charged with disclosing more than 260,000 diplomatic cables, many of them classified, in an inquiry into the WikiLeaks disclosures.


Read more: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/protest-outside-convention-leads-to-standoff-with-police/