wrbones
03-21-03, 07:05 PM
Friday, March 21, 2003
TAOS, N.M. — War protesters trashed the grounds around a northern New Mexico home owned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, placing "No War" stickers and throwing children's clothes around the property, authorities say.
No arrests were made during the demonstration Thursday, said Lt. Eddie Martinez of the Taos County Sheriff's Department.
The protesters were among 400 to 500 who began demonstrating at Taos Plaza and marched along U.S. 64 to two Rumsfeld properties at El Prado, a couple of miles northwest of Taos, Martinez said.
"They got onto his property, and that would be trespassing," he said. "There's issues and laws they need to understand. If their choice is a peace demonstration, then they should keep the peace."
Police and neighbors blocked the entrance to one of Rumsfeld's properties. Demonstrators then walked more than a mile to a dairy farm, also owned by Rumsfeld, where about a dozen jumped a fence.
They placed the "No War" stickers and other signs on the farm's house and grounds, said Mariel Nanasi, a protest organizer.
"They pulled the American flag off the garage door and wrapped it around the front door of his residence. They put up banners and tossed children's clothing around the yard," Martinez said.
The Associated Press left a telephone message Friday with Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense in Washington, D.C., seeking comment.
Protesters impeded traffic during the march along U.S. 64, Martinez said.
"Obviously, they get to protest because this is a free country, but stay as far to the right as you can to the shoulders of the road if you are going to march," Martinez said.
Taos is an art community known for its Hispanic and Pueblo Indian traditions mixed with a bohemian lifestyle. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east overlook the town's narrow streets, which are lined with adobe homes and galleries surrounded by a sagebrush-dotted high desert.
Rumsfeld's 2001 financial disclosure statement showed he owned six homes in northern New Mexico, including properties in the Santa Fe, Mora and Las Vegas areas.
Rumsfeld has told friends he fell in love with New Mexico as a boy while visiting the Boy Scouts' Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron in northeastern New Mexico.
TAOS, N.M. — War protesters trashed the grounds around a northern New Mexico home owned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, placing "No War" stickers and throwing children's clothes around the property, authorities say.
No arrests were made during the demonstration Thursday, said Lt. Eddie Martinez of the Taos County Sheriff's Department.
The protesters were among 400 to 500 who began demonstrating at Taos Plaza and marched along U.S. 64 to two Rumsfeld properties at El Prado, a couple of miles northwest of Taos, Martinez said.
"They got onto his property, and that would be trespassing," he said. "There's issues and laws they need to understand. If their choice is a peace demonstration, then they should keep the peace."
Police and neighbors blocked the entrance to one of Rumsfeld's properties. Demonstrators then walked more than a mile to a dairy farm, also owned by Rumsfeld, where about a dozen jumped a fence.
They placed the "No War" stickers and other signs on the farm's house and grounds, said Mariel Nanasi, a protest organizer.
"They pulled the American flag off the garage door and wrapped it around the front door of his residence. They put up banners and tossed children's clothing around the yard," Martinez said.
The Associated Press left a telephone message Friday with Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense in Washington, D.C., seeking comment.
Protesters impeded traffic during the march along U.S. 64, Martinez said.
"Obviously, they get to protest because this is a free country, but stay as far to the right as you can to the shoulders of the road if you are going to march," Martinez said.
Taos is an art community known for its Hispanic and Pueblo Indian traditions mixed with a bohemian lifestyle. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east overlook the town's narrow streets, which are lined with adobe homes and galleries surrounded by a sagebrush-dotted high desert.
Rumsfeld's 2001 financial disclosure statement showed he owned six homes in northern New Mexico, including properties in the Santa Fe, Mora and Las Vegas areas.
Rumsfeld has told friends he fell in love with New Mexico as a boy while visiting the Boy Scouts' Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron in northeastern New Mexico.