* One of the main motivations of this direct action was to combat the paranoia and timidity that was descending on the anti-war movement thanks to the Orange Alert paranoia being whipped up by the Bush Regime. Activists in New York were saying that any form of civil disobedience would result in severe penalties due to the Patriot Act and other new laws against terrorism. The Holland Tunnel action was done to show that not only were confrontational tactics possible, but that the legal ramifications are quite small. The activists arrested were only charged with disorderly conduct and were released within hours of being arrested. * My roommate feels that their action lessened the level of fear and paranoia among NYC activists, which hopefully will lead to a large turnout this weekend. * The response to the protest from commuters was mostly positive. The first driver who was blocked got mad, until they saw the anti-war banner being put up. Lot of commuters honked in support and gave the thumbs up sign. * The direct action blocked one entrance to the Holland Tunnel for over an hour. Another entrance on the NYC side was open at this time. * They blocked the New York entrance because the New Jersey entrance has thirteen lanes and is impossible to blockade. * They deliberately chose to create a blockade outside of the tunnel, because they didn't want to trap people inside the tunnel, which may have resulted in panic and heart attacks.
Hope that answers most questions that have been posted here.
Chuck0
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"The state can't give you free speech, and the state can't take it away. You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free..." ---Utah Phillips