By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
A group calling itself the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism has been fighting an uphill battle to secure a parade permit for a Saturday to trek down N. Michigan Avenue. The group, led by peace activist Andy Thayer, began the process on Jan. 3 by requesting the permit. The City responded by offering the group a permit to march along Clark Street. Thayer’s group rejected the City’s offer and filed suit in Federal District Court demanding that their right to free and peaceable assembly be honored by the city in accordance with guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.
The issue now is partly a result of the protest of the U.S. invasion of Iraq two years ago when marchers were forced off Michigan Avenue and on to N. Lake Shore Drive. That march erupted into a confrontation with police in which dozens were arrested, though no one served any time in jail. That anti-war protest started in the Federal Plaza and evolved into a march through the Loop and on to N. Michigan Avenue. Thayer’s group argued that their right to use Michigan Avenue as a parade route was no less valid than that exercised by the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association's (GNMAA) annual Christmas light parade, in November. Thayer clearly understands that the political nature of his parade plan is different from the commercial aspect of the GNMAA event, yet his group followed the same guidelines as were applied by GNMAA for their permit.
According to Thayer, "Mayor Daley cannot play favorites about which groups are allowed to express their free speech in a meaningful way, and which groups are denied that right. Mayor Daley cannot choose which messages get heard and which do not. City Hall has a long and sordid history of precisely this brand of cronyism and peace activists are determined not to allow their message to be held hostage to it."
"The City has offered us Clark Street but that’s not an equivalent street compared to N. Michigan Avenue. We want to return to the scene of the City’s own crime [the arrests and chaos resulting from the march two years ago]," Thayer told Inside.
The case was heard by Federal District Court Judge William J. Hibbler who, after hearing the case presented by the Plaintiff’s attorney James Finnerty, ruled in favor of the City and rejected the efforts of the Coalition to secure a temporary injunction against the City in their petition to hold their march on Michigan Avenue this Saturday, March 19. Attorneys representing the City at the time of the Judge’s decision on Friday, March 11, included Mike Forti, Mardell Nereim, Caroline Sheerin, and Andy Mine. The judge’s decision was passed down as an oral ruling from the bench. This ruling only affected the group’s request to hold their Michigan Avenue march on Saturday. It did not, however, affect the basic issue raised by Thayer relating to his concern that the group’s rights to free speech were being trampled by the City.
According to the spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Dan Lehmann, "The Plaintiff’s petition on the basic civil liberty question was not withdrawn and the Judge will hear arguments on March 23 as to whether the City has the right to deny the petitioner permission to march on Michigan Avenue."
In another element of this situation, Thayer has proposed a rally to be held in the Federal Plaza on Dearborn Street as a climax to the peace march. A permit was secured from the General Services Administration and the rally is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. Saturday. The group has enlisted the support of controversial Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to speak at that rally. McKinney is known for her conspiracy theories relating to the 9/11 tragedy in which she has accused President Bush and members of his administration of conspiring to permit the attack on the World Trade Center as a pretext for profit, citing first President Bush’s involvement as a Board member of the Carlyle Group.
In addition, McKinney, who has been closely allied with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhaan, has regularly attacked U.S. policy toward Israel. According to Thayer, McKinney is "a leading civil rights activist for peoples in occupied territories and that’s why she is for the Palestinians."
McKinney was defeated for re-election in 2002 and regained her seat (but not her seniority) in the 2004 election. Questions have been raised regarding her support for organizations like CAIR, the Counsel for American Islamic Relations, a group known for its support of radical Islamic groups. McKinney appeared in 2002 as a keynote speaker for a fund-raising dinner on behalf of the organization. When she was defeated for re-election, primarily because of her extreme statements on behalf of conspiracy theorists, her father, a Georgia state Representative, was quoted as saying that her loss of the congressional seat in 2002 was caused by "Jews – that’s J-E-W-S." The senior McKinney lost his seat in the State House because of this and other anti-Semitic remarks attributed to him.
The fact that Cynthia McKinney lost her Congressional seat to an African-American candidate did not enter into her reasoning as to why she was defeated. Her impending appearance at the rally was noted by the Anti-Defamation League. An ADL spokesman said, "We’re troubled by her record and her conspiracy theories regarding 9/11. We are also aware of her affinity with extremist groups in the Middle East. On Sept. 14, 2002, she reported to the Congressional Black Caucus that President Bush was warned of the attacks and ordered 24-hour fighter cover over his Texas ranch."
Following the ruling by Judge Hibbler, Thayer told Inside, "We will possibly be assembling on the sidewalk at Michigan and Oak. The City’s offer to hold the march on Clark Street is still an option we have still not accepted. We remain committed to not allowing our civil liberties to be trampled by City Hall. Politicians here applaud the fact that dissidents are parading on the major streets of Beirut and Kiev but oppose the same thing happening here." |
