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>January 4, 2001
>Conservatives make plans for inaugural mobilization
>
>By John Drake
>THE WASHINGTON TIMES (This can also be found through loudcitizen.com)
>
>
>A coalition of conservatives is mobilizing to support President-elect
>George W. Bush on Inauguration Day while radical anti-establishment
>activists are planning demonstrations.
>
>"I think we will present a real contrast from a bunch of kids all
>dressed in black who dislike America, what the country stands for, and
>are waving big puppets," said James Parmelee, a conservative rally
>organizer who lives in Fairfax County, Va.
>
>The Northern Virginia Republican Political Action Committee, a network
>of conservatives, has momentum from rallies it staged in Florida and the
>District during the five weeks of legal wrangling after the presidential
>election. The independent grass-roots group is not affiliated with
>
>Mr. Parmelee, the group's chairman, said conservatives from across the
>country will converge on the District of Columbia to "provide a
>counterbalance to the leftists and the media attention they will get
>against George W. Bush."
>
>"We're not professional protesters. We don't travel from Seattle to
>Washington to protest," he said. "We're from Middle America, with all
>ages and all races of people who support the democratic process."
>
>Meanwhile, the Justice Action Movement (JAM), a key group organizing
>anti-Bush demonstrations, was scheduled to meet last night to plan
>tactics for Jan. 20. Many JAM activists participated in anti-World Bank
>rallies in the District in April and anti-World Trade Organization
>protests in Seattle in1999.
>
>Plans by anti-establishment activists and liberals such as Al Sharpton
>and Jesse Jackson have motivated conservatives to counter their rallies,
>Mr. Parmelee said.
>
>Final plans are not in place, but conservative organizers likely will
>stage a counterprotest near Mr. Sharpton's "shadow inauguration" at the
>U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 20, Mr. Parmelee said.
>
>As for anti-establishment radicals, "if they resort to doing some of the
>things they were doing in Seattle, I'm not sure how our folks would
>react," Mr. Parmelee said. "I'm not sure they're going to get away with
>that.
>
>"We just want to get out there and express our support for George W.
>Bush and [Vice President-elect] Dick Cheney, and let America know we're
>behind them," said Mr. Parmelee.
>
>He has teamed up with other conservative groups — Loud Citizen and Free
>Republic — to prepare counterprotest tactics, transportation and housing
>for supporters coming from across the country.
>
>Taking a cue from their counterparts on the fringe, the conservatives
>are using the Internet for their plans, including some
>countersurveillance.
>
>On www.loudcitizen.com, several persons posted messages of concern about
>anti-inauguration protest plans already circulating in cyberspace.
>Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said additional groups
>create a potential for confrontations, but he doesn't anticipate any
>big problems.
>
>"Certainly, any time you have groups and countergroups, the potential to
>have something happen is always there," Chief Ramsey said.
>
>"This, however, becomes more complicated because you'll have so many
>people there to observe the inauguration, and [protesters] can move
>about and not be recognized," the chief said.
>
>Based on how protesters for Vice President Al Gore and Mr. Bush
>conducted themselves during rallies after the election, Chief Ramsey
>said, "I don't think there's going to be a clash between the two groups.
>We'll just have to deal with it as it comes along and not get in the
>middle of it unless it's necessary."
>
>The conservative rallies won't bother the anti-establishment activists,
>who plan to put 10,000 demonstrators on the streets, said Adam
>Eidinger, a local JAM spokesman. "We're going to try to avoid those
>people," he said. "That's the best thing we can do.
>
>"Our problem is with George Bush and the Republican administration.
>We're going to send a message to them, and to the members of Congress.
>We want action, not lip service. They need to work on these issues," he
>said.
>
>Yet Mr. Eidinger suggested that conservatives might provoke a
>confrontation. "If they touch any of us, they will be committing
>assault, and they know that. And we expect the police to enforce the
>law," he said.
>
>Liberals, such as Mr. Sharpton, also said they are not worried about
>the conservatives. "They are of no concern to me at all," Mr. Sharpton
>told The Washington Times in a telephone interview yesterday.
>
>"They're the ones who don't want me to be heard," he said. "If they want
>to march, they're welcome to it. We'll have enough numbers there to make
>our message heard, and we'll see what they're numbers are."
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