Walter Reed Army Medical Center protests
In March 2005, anti-war demonstrators began to position themselves weekly on Friday night near the main entrance to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., "the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq", and "about five miles from the White House". Demonstrators obtain "their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department". [1]
Anti-war groups include CODEPINK: Women for Peace, which is led by Medea Benjamin.
War support groups protesting in front of WRAMC include Free Republic, led by D.C. Chapter president Kristinn Taylor, and Protest Warrior.
According to FReeper Tom the Redhunter on April 1, 2006, "two months ago we got the permit for all four corners, so the pinkos are relegated to holding their anti-war protest a half block down the street where noone can see them." [2]
On January 28, 2006, Tom the Redhunter wrote:
- "For months Code Pink held anti-war protests, disguised as vigils, on the two corners right beside the main entrance to the hospital every Friday evening. Once discovered, organizers at Free Republic and Protest Warriors countered them by holding a pro-troops/anti-Code Pink rally on the opposite two corners. This has been going on for about 10 months. I got involved last August when all of this became a national news story after Marc Morano of CNSNews published a story about it. My previous posts on the subject are here, here, here, here, and here.
- "As I related last Saturday, the Pinkos forgot to renew their permits, and ConcreteBob of the Washington DC chapter of the Protest Warriors seized the initiative and got permits for 'their' corners."
Also see article on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal.
Articles & Commentary
The following are articles and commentary about the weekly anti- and pro-war demonstrations outside WRAMC.
2005
- Jon R. Anderson, "Activists see deception in night arrivals at Walter Reed. Shielding wounded denies cost of war, say vigil attendees," Stars and Stripes, March 31, 2005.
- Marc Morano, "Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital," Cybercast News Service; also posted at GOPUSA, August 25, 2005.
- Michelle Pilecki, "One Sick Protest," The Huffington Post, August 25, 2005.
- Bill Berkowitz, "The Politics of Slander," Media Transparency, August 26, 2005.
- "CODEPINK Statement on Vigil Outside of Walter Reed Hospital," CODEPINK, August 26, 2005.
- "'Code Pink' protestors target Walter Reed Medical Center," Fox News / Hannity & Colmes, August 26, 2005.
- Tantor, "Walter Reed Protest," Conservative Propaganda Blogspot, August 27, 2005.
- Tom, "At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Faceoff with Code Pink," The Redhunter, August 27, 2005.
- "Hannity blamed 'anti-war left' for protest at soldier's funeral actually organized by anti-gay church," Media Matters for America, August 31, 2005.
- "FReep of Code Pink's Quagmire at Walter Reed, Sept 2 (Heavy graphics, Join us Sept 9!)," D.C. Chapter Free Republic, September 8, 2005.
- "Double-MOAB FReep of Code Pink at Walter Reed, Sept 9 (Heavy graphics, Join us Sept 16!)," D.C. Chapter Free Republic, September 13, 2005.
- Kristinn Taylor, "Code Pink Urges Walter Reed Neighbors to Sic Police on FReepers," Free Republic, September 16, 2005.
- Tom, "Pinkos Update," The Redhunter, September 17, 2005.
- Tantor, "Code Pink Update: Walter Reed Antiwar Protest," Conservative Propaganda Blogspot, September 21, 2005.
- Tantor, "Code Pink Continues Protest Of Walter Reed," Conservative Propaganda Blogspot, September 24, 2007.
- Tom, "Photos and Report from the Protests in Washington DC," The Redhunter, September 25, 2007.
- "Small Counter Rally Shows Support for Troops," Fox News, September 26, 2005.
- Allan Lengel, "A Weekly Battle Over War in Iraq. Outside Walter Reed on Friday Nights, Two Camps Stand Their Ground," Washington Post, October 30, 2005.
- Tom, "Leftist Whacko Update," The Redhunter, November 12, 2007.
- Tom, "Pinkos Update: Two More Nights at Walter Reed," The Redhunter, November 13, 2005.
- Tom, "Getting Chilly at Walter Reed," The Redhunter, December 8, 2005.
2006
- Tom, "Walter Reed FReep #95 - The Bus Stops Here," The Redhunter, January 19, 2006.
- "FReep 39 at Walter Reed, Jan 13 (Heavy graphics, Join us Jan 20!)," D.C. Chapter Free Republic, January 20, 2006.
- Tom, "The Pinkos Sound the Retreat!" The Redhunter, January 21, 2006.
- Tom, "Code Pink Kept Away from Walter Reed," The Redhunter, January 28, 2006.
- Steve Boggess, "Code Pink: The vigil outside Walter Reed Army Hospital," Renew America, February 18, 2006.
- Marc Morano, "Sheehan Denies Participation in Walter Reed Hospital Protest," Cybercast News Service; also posted by NewsMax, March 2, 2006.
- Tom, "Friends at Walter Reed," The Redhunter, April 1, 2006. Note that, with one exception, the photographs posted are time/date stamped for Janaury 27, 2007.
- Tom, "Confrontation with Code Pink at Walter Reed," The Redhunter, July 8, 2006.
- Tom, "Keeping Walter Reed Pinko-Free," The Redhunter, August 26, 2006.
- Tom the Redhunter, "Walter Reed Freep #79 - October 20, 2006 - Keeping the Faith," Free Republic, October 24, 2006.
- Tom, "Freep #85 at Walter Reed - From Summer to Winter All in One Evening," The Redhunter, December 5, 2006.
- Tom, "Walter Reed Freep #87: Santa Claus Comes to Town!" The Redhunter, December 20, 2006.
2007
- Tom, "Walter Reed FReep #90 January 5 AAR - Down To A Science," The Redhunter, January 9, 2007.
- "Freeper alert-Moonbats set to protest at Walter Reed on Thursday, March 15th at 3 PM," Free Republic, March 11, 2007.
- Albion Wilde, "NOW THE TROOPS HAVE TO DEFEND WALTER REED, TOO – FReep # 99: 3/09/07," D.C. Chapter Free Republic, March 15, 2007.
- PleaDeal, "Anti-war Protesters Fail to Materialize at Walter Reed," Free Republic, March 16, 2007.
- "Weekend anti-war demonstrations continue. Marchers in D.C., N.Y., San Francisco protest Iraq conflict by the thousands," Associated Press (MSNBC), March 18, 2007.
- Tom, "Walter Reed Freep #100 - March 16, 2007 - 100 Weeks in a Row," The Redhunter, March 19, 2007.