transcribed from a ham radio broadcast, August 19
Government Vows to Defend Washington
by Daniel Andrews
As protesters begin massing in the suburbs outside
of the District
of Columbia, the government issues a stern warning
against rallying
in Washington. Additional military units are
being moved up to
defend the capitol. The army is manning road
blocks on every
major avenue leading into the city. In Washington
itself, troops,
tanks and helicopters are patrolling every block of
the city.
Residents have been advised to stay indoors until
further notice.
Those who do venture out can expect to be stopped
and
questioned, and even detained.
Late last night, military authorities issued the following
warning:
“Any people converging on Washington DC or acting
against
any federal or state institution will be considered
to be terrorists
intent on hostile actions and will be treated accordingly.”
The
army and the marines are making quite a display of
strength in
the city. Observation helicopters are on constant
reconnaissance
in the suburbs outside of the city, watching the movements
of
protesters and assessing the number of new arrivals.
Even protest
organizers are fearful about the possibility of violence,
but vow to
go ahead with their plans anyway.
Despite the government warning, people are still swarming
to the
area. Estimates place the number of protesters
at over 100,000,
and many more are making their way from all over the
country.
Road blocks on Interstates 95, 70, 270 and 66 have
proved
ineffective, as protesters quickly find other routes.
Most of the
protesters are gathering in the Maryland suburbs to
the north of
Washington. Greenbelt Park is being used as
a base for actions.
As many as 50,000 people are currently encamped in
the park.
Food and supplies are being provided by sympathetic
residents,
despite warnings not to aid the protesters.
Several people have
been detained for attempting to bring food to the
park. In spite
of the powerful military machine which they are facing,
and the
general lack of food and necessities, spirits among
the protesters
remain quite high. Everyone seems to be quite
proud to take part
in this struggle for freedom. Organizers say
they would like to
wait at least another day before marching on Washington,
in order
to give protesters from across the country a little
more time to arrive.
Organizers emphasize that this is to be an exercise
in passive civil
disobedience. They have informed government
and military
authorities that they are unarmed, concerned citizens.
Their goal
is to take the city by shear numbers and hold it until
democracy is
restored. In the words of one of the protesters,
“I see no armed
terrorists around here. We’re just regular folks.
But we are
determined to see that justice and democracy prevail.”
One of
the organizers stated that, “Any action taken against
us will be a
declaration of war on the people of the United States
by their
government. They can’t afford to do that.”
Many have been detained and disappeared while on route
to
Washington. There are road blocks and patrols
all over the
country. Please be advised that anyone traveling
to Washington
should seek out secondary routes and travel with extreme
caution.
At several such road blocks, gun fire has been exchanged
between
travelers and soldiers. Elsewhere, arrests and
disappearances
continue. Arresting police and soldiers have
ceased giving reasons
for their actions. Likewise, militias and other
resistance groups
continue to be attacked and broken.
Government troops have moved into major cities throughout
the
country. In almost all cases, the citizens have
put up an armed
resistance. Several cities have managed to repulse
the federal
troops: Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Antonio, Tucson,
Billings,
Indianapolis, Portland (Maine), and even Philadelphia
have resisted
federal troops and declared themselves free cities.
Seattle was
temporarily liberated by its citizens, but additional
troops were
rushed into the area to prevent Boeing from losing
industries which
are considered vital to the military. The new
assault, conducted
with troops from outside of the state, was able to
break through
defenses and retake the city.
The military is being very careful not to send troops
into their own
home states, where they would have to fight against
friends, relatives,
and neighbors. Even so, morale is extremely
low. Very few soldiers
are prepared to go to war against their own people.
Incidents of
insubordination and defection are occurring everywhere.
Officers
need to ride their troops to stay in control and prevent
mutinies.
Mass defections were largely responsible for the successful
liberation of Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
Military officials are
justly worried about the commitment of their front
like troops. All
military bases have cut off outside communications
after many
families appealed to their sons and daughters not
to bear arms
against their own people.
Elsewhere, continuing bloodshed seems to be stirring
up the population
even further. St. Louis, Colorado Springs, Cincinnati,
Tampa and
Buffalo (NY) are all boiling over following the massacre
in each of
these cities of peaceful protesters. In Tampa,
government forces
mistakenly opened fire on a revivalist tent after
teens unassociated
with the revivalists threw stones at soldiers.
12 people were killed
and 27 were injured, mostly women and children.
Disheartened by
their error, many of the soldiers threw down their
weapons and left
the scene in tears. Once the news had circulated,
townspeople rose
up and surrounded the remaining troops, demanding
their surrender.
The commanding officer intended to respond by calling
an air strike,
but his own soldiers held a gun to his head and forced
him to surrender.
The government is finally beginning to wonder if they
are strong enough
to stand in the face of popular opposition.
They never expected so
many people throughout the country to stand up against
them. Were
this only an issue of whether or not to attack Mexico,
the government
would likely have backed down from their stated intentions.
But this
crisis has triggered the people’s dissatisfaction
with their worsening
lot in life while major corporations and those who
own them go on
raking in enormous profits from their exploitation
of labor and
environment. For the last few years more and
more people have
realized that this situation cannot go on. Now
that the people have
risen, they will not be stopped until they have overthrown
all tyrants,
both in government and in industry. ONWARD TO
WASHINGTON! RISE UP! TAKE
BACK YOUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS! FREEDOM IS
AT HAND! DOWN
WITH ALL TYRANTS!
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*********Dissemination News Agency*********
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This report is entirely fictional. It is
part of a short story written as a series
of news reports, and is presented purely
for entertainment purposes.
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*********Oh, for a pair of wireclippers********
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