GOP Convention Closes With Milder Protests
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:18 a.m. ET NEW YORK (AP) -- A
week of rallies, marches and nearly 1,800 arrests left anti-Bush
protesters drained and the city refuting allegations that demonstrators
were held too long in police custody. But as Republicans and
out-of-town protesters prepared to depart, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said
he was pleased with how the Republican National Convention had gone and
that he was optimistic it would prove to be an economic success. ``You
think about 8 million people and all the opportunities for things to go
wrong, and they didn't,'' Bloomberg said outside a party after President
Bush's speech. ``A very small number of people got out of hand. People
had a right to protest, they came, they got their message out, and they
didn't take away others' freedom.'' Protesters gave
the GOP a mostly mellow send-off Thursday following days of rowdier
demonstrations. A noisy but nonviolent group gathered outside the
convention site, and a candlelight vigil in Union Square later turned
into a late-night march. ``It's been a long week,'' said
demonstrator Sam Nolan, 37, of Queens, as he walked away from the
protest. ``The cops really wore us down. I guess people got
intimidated.'' Police said fewer than 50 protesters were arrested
Thursday and early Friday. But the city spent Thursday processing
demonstrators who were arrested earlier in the week and waging a court
battle with the protesters' legal advocates over how long hundreds of
detainees were being held. Some protesters spent almost three
days in lockups, and city officials blamed delays on the sheer number
of arrests. Lawyers for the protesters alleged that people were
detained to keep them off the streets during the president's speech, a
charge the police department denied. But all of the protesters --
except six who were arrested on the convention floor -- were freed by
late Thursday after a Manhattan judge ordered their release and imposed
a fine of $1,000 for every protester held past his declared 5 p.m.
deadline. The judge, State Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo,
did not revisit the issue of the fines after the protesters had been
released. City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo called the
fines unwarranted and said the city would consider its legal options
when the fines are assessed. Though Thursday's protests were
milder than those earlier in the convention, demonstrators remained
determined to make their opposition to Republican policies heard. Inside
the convention hall, security officials removed at least two protesters
from the crowd while Bush was delivering his address.
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