2004-8-24 Green Dragon Group Stages Anti-Republican Bike Ride – NYC Indymedia

Green Dragon Group Stages Anti-Republican Bike Ride Through Manhattan

http://nyc.indymedia.org/es/2004/08/40953.html

NYC Indymedia

August 24, 2004

 
NEW YORK — Mounting themselves on bicycles and chanting “One if by private jet, two if by SUV,” a group of revelers known as the Greene Dragon rode through Manhattan warning New Yorkers that “the Republicans are coming.” The 30 members of the group, dressed in star-spangled 18th-century garb, staged street theater they called “Paula Revere’s Ride” on Tuesday as part of a demonstration against the Republican National Convention, which comes to New York next week. They invited patriotic revelers to join their “American Revel-ution.”

 
Organizers say they are insulted that the Republicans chose New York for the convention, especially so close to the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack. “We don’t want them here to exploit our personal tragedy for political gain,” said Jonny America, founder of Greene Dragon. “I don’t want four more years of (President Bush’s) corporate monarchy.” The demonstrators staged the first part of their protest at Central Park, where they were joined by about 200 other cyclists to ride through Manhattan until they arrived at Webster Hall, a few miles downtown. Through some of the ride, streets were blocked and traffic was held up. Police in cars and on scooters followed the riders along the route. Organizers said the group did not have a permit to stage the demonstration, but no arrests were made. The Greene Dragon group, named for the Boston tavern where early patriots including Paul Revere and Sam Adams plotted the Boston Tea Party in 1773, performs its street theater campaign with its members dressed in colorful, flamboyant costumes. The group was founded in April, anticipating the convention, and its first foray was on July 4, when members read the Declaration of Independence on Wall Street. On Friday, Greene Dragon plans another street theater demonstration in which it symbolically crosses New York Harbor on the Staten Island ferry, mimicking George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River. The street theater campaign is being called the “Battle of New Yorktown,” but members say it will not be violent. “We’re the ones who want peace,” said Elana Levin, a Greene Dragon member. “The Republicans have come to declare war.” http://www.greenedragon.org http://www.newsfrombabylon.com

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