There have been several local reports of Saturday's protest, although I don't think the national media picked it up. What else is new?
But the excellent reporter for The Virginian Pilot, Bill Sizemore, did however write a news report with five great photographs by Chris Curry of the Pilot as well. Below is an excerpt of the article. You can read the entire article by clicking here and note when you do that the photos are a series of five that you can activate.
Sizemore has also written a terrific report on Blackwater which you can access by clicking here.
Photos: Seven protesters arrested at Blackwater's headquarters
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 21, 2007
Last updated: 7:05 PM
| Special Report: Inside America's Private Army |
By BILL SIZEMORE, The Virginian-Pilot
MOYOCK, N.C.
Seven people were arrested Saturday at Blackwater Worldwide’s front entrance after protesters re-enacted the Sept. 16 shooting incident in Baghdad involving Blackwater contractors in which 17 Iraqis died.
It was the first protest at the 10-year-old private military company’s headquarters, a reflection of its heightened profile since the Baghdad shootings stirred Iraqi anger and created a diplomatic crisis for Blackwater’s client, the U.S. State Department.
The protesters drove a small gray station wagon, covered with simulated bullet holes and smeared with red paint, onto Blackwater’s property. One lay back in the driver’s seat and five others got out and lay on the ground, as if they had been shot.
The scene was intended to mimic that in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, where an Iraqi doctor and her son died in a fusillade of gunfire as their car approached a Blackwater diplomatic convoy......
Currituck County sheriff’s deputies, called to the scene by Blackwater guards, told the protesters they were on private property and asked them to leave. When they didn’t respond, they were handcuffed and placed in a sheriff’s van. Some went limp and had to be dragged.
A crowd of about 50 more protesters who had gathered along the adjacent public road cheered as the seven were driven away. The group carried signs with slogans such as “Bring Blackwater to Justice,” “Security Contractors are Unlawful Combatants” and “Blackwater: Shoot First, Ask No Questions.”......
The protest was organized by the Norfolk Catholic Worker and Blackwater Watch, an activist group based in Durham, N.C.
Christian Stalberg, a spokesman for Blackwater Watch, said the group’s aim is to “shut down Blackwater.”
“It’s an unmitigated disaster,” he said. “They’re irresponsible and totally unaccountable.”
DeMott, who described himself as a Vietnam War veteran, said he was willing to risk arrest because “not to raise my voice would be to tacitly condone Blackwater and its murderous activities.” ......................
