Protesters vow appeal of ban on West Point demonstration

West point - Anti-war activists said they would appeal a federal judge’s ruling that West Point can refuse to let outsiders on campus to demonstrate against the war in Iraq during Vice President Cheney’s commencement speech. “The fact that we oppose the war does not make us a security risk,” said Michael Sussman, a leader of the Democratic Alliance of Orange County. The alliance and several individuals asked District Judge Charles Brieant to intervene after the military school’s garrison commander turned down their request for a 1,000-person permit for May 26. The commander, Brian Crawford, said in a written statement that protests had never been allowed on the grounds and could be “inconsistent with the military mission and can detract from the good order, discipline, security, morale or loyalty of the soldiers.” The would-be protesters argued that Cheney is likely to speak in support of the war in Iraq and they should be allowed to express an opposing view. In a ruling issued a week ago after a one-day trial, Brieant found that West Point’s security concerns — complicated by the presence of the vice president and the graduating cadets’ guests — were reasonable, despite the protesters’ peaceful record in recent protests held outside the gates. Brieant said in the ruling that the protest group’s assurance of lawfulness “overlooks the fact that opposition to the war in Iraq has intensified greatly in recent months; that expected counter-demonstrations outside the gate may interact with the group in a hostile manner, or that participants in political ‘dirty tricks’ may seek to infiltrate the march for the purpose of causing trouble.” He also said that since the protesters’ own proposed line of march would keep them half a mile away from the graduation ceremonies, there was no reason to believe the protest “would gain any greater notoriety, attention or dissemination of ideas” than a demonstration outside the gates. Brieant stressed that he was deciding the case mostly on security grounds and was skeptical of West Point’s claim that “a blanket prohibition on political speech at a military installation is constitutional.” “Graduation Day at West Point has always been, and will likely continue to be, a bully pulpit for political incumbents,” the judge noted.