Protests and Demonstrations

Eric Garner Protest Peaceful; Dallas Police Keep Marchers off I-35 This Time

For the second week in a row, demonstrators took to Dallas streets to protest an out-of-state grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer for killing an unarmed black man. Unlike last week, Dallas police blocked off access to Interstate 35 and kept demonstrators from closing the freew ... More >>

One of the Ferguson Protesters Was Arrested for Something Called a "Sidewalk Use Violation." What's That?

Until the very end, Tuesday night's demonstration in Dallas against the grand jury's decision in the Ferguson case was uneventful. Marchers congregated at Dallas Police Department headquarters in the Cedars then walked through downtown to protest the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson, Mi ... More >>

A&M Law Professor: Dallas' New Protest Ordinance is Unconstitutional

The lawsuit filed last year by Bush Library protesters, alleging that Dallas' ordinance banning hand-held signs from within 75 feet of highways violated the First Amendment, has been in a holding pattern for several months while the city worked to revise its rule. That process wrapped up last week ... More >>

Dallas City Council Is Fine with Free Speech, as Long as It's Not Close to a Freeway

For those who think free speech is an absolute right that shouldn't be lightly trifled with, this morning's City Council meeting offered an unpleasant spectacle. It wasn't so much that the council voted 10-4 to pass an ordinance outlawing "conduct that is intended to distract the attention of motor ... More >>

As City Hall Battles Activists' Lawsuit, Dallas Moves to Ease Rules on Street-corner Protests

The city of Dallas swears it wasn't violating anyone's free speech rights when it ticketed a half dozen activists last January protesting the soon-to-open Bush Library by holding political signs along the Central Expressway service road. As the city has explained in court, police were simply ensurin ... More >>

Walmart is Suing the DFW Union Workers Who Have Been Protesting Their Stores

For almost two years now, like an angry minnow nibbling at a whale, a coalition of labor groups operating as OURWalmart has been organizing nationwide protests against the retail giant, complaining of low wages, terrible benefits and the company's general hostility toward organized labor. It start ... More >>

Two Protesters Wearing Giant Bush-Cheney Masks Were Arrested Outside SMU Today (Updated with Video)

The men and women who gathered alongside Central Expressway this morning to protest the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center were mostly well-behaved. They marched by peacefully by in their Jason-esque hockey masks, Guantanamo prison garb and comically oversize papier mache heads. B ... More >>

Peace Activists Can Protest the New Bush Center, Judge Rules, So Off They Go

Last week we told you about a group of activists who were suing the City of Dallas, claiming they're being illegally barred from participating in a protest during SMU's dedication this week of the new George W. Bush Presidential Center. On Friday, noting a "strong public interest in the freedom of e ... More >>

Keystone Pipeline Protesters Tie Themselves to Construction Equipment, Halt Work

Three protesters tied themselves to logging equipment clearing trees for the southern portion of the Keystone pipeline early Wednesday morning. A representative of the group, which calls itself the Tar Sands Blockade, says work on the East Texas site is currently halted. "A caravan of between seven ... More >>

Mark Cuban Will Bring Occupy Unmasked, Andrew Breitbart's Anti-Occupy Movie, to Theaters

Mavs owner Mark Cuban is making sure conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart will continue to provoke some five months after his death. Big Hollywood, a site Breitbart founded, reported yesterday that Cuban's company, Magnet, plans to release "Occupy Unmasked" in theaters. "This film is controver ... More >>

The 50th Anniversary of JFK's Death Could Be the Start of Something Good and Loud

Southern Dallas Kwik Stop Protesters Change Gears, Shift Goals To Establish Black Banks

The protests outside Tommy Pak's Diamond Shamrock Kwik Stop in South Dallas have dwindled, but the battle pitting black activists against the Korean store owner continues online at the Don't Stop Don't Shop Facebook page. There are still promises to continue the fight to shut down Pak's store, the ... More >>

The End of the Occupation: Scenes From Dallas Police's Raid on Occupy Dallas's Encampment

Photos by Justin Terveen, slide show hereIn the shadow of Dallas City Hall, officers on horseback and in riot gear prepared to raid the Occupy Dallas encampment early this morning.​A little past 11 last night, one of the protesters camped out behind Dallas City Hall was walking from tent to te ... More >>

Stephen Benavides, Protestor Accused of Assaulting Police, Says, No, the Cops Got Rough

Photo by Brantley HargroveStephen Benavides​Stephen Benavides, an organizer with the United Steelworkers, was one of eight arrested Saturday at the Occupy Dallas protest at the downtown Bank of America tower during Bank Transfer Day, aimed at encouraging the use of not-for-profit credit unions ... More >>

Time for Occupy Dallas to Push Back

We can't roll over for DPD's goon-squad tactics.

City, Occupy Dallas at Odds Over Who Began Melee That Ended With Eight Arrested

Photos by Anna Merlan, more in the slide show​An Occupy Dallas march and protest turned ugly this afternoon when police used pepper spray to subdue the crowd outside of the Bank of America building on Main and Lamar, protesters told Unfair Park. Eight people were arrested from the crowd of abo ... More >>

Occupy Dallas Protestors Arrested for Blocking Entrance to Chase Bank Branch Downtown

Photo by Anna MerlanThe two Occupy Dallas protestors who stayed behind following the arrests of their comrades​So happened that Anna was hanging out at Chase Tower earlier today awaiting Occupy Dallasites who said they were going to parade, two by two, into the bank to close their accounts and tra ... More >>

At Feel-Good Hearing, City and Occupy Dallas Hash Out Deal to Move Downtown Campsite

If you need one of Dallas's occupiers come Sunday evening, this is where they'll be.​A hearing this morning at the Earle Cabell could have been a First Amendment showdown over Occupy Dallas's right to remain in Pioneer Park in downtown. Instead, it became a simple formality after protesters ca ... More >>

Occupy Dallas Sends a Mayor Mike, City Officials a Note: They're Gonna Be Here a While

​We went to the Mecum car auction Saturday after all, where a '68 Corvette sold for $565,000, and as we were driving away from the Dallas Convention Center we espied a small encampment of sorts set up next to Robert Summers's 49 bronze Longhorns in Pioneer Plaza. There was one dude sporting a Guy ... More >>

Protesters Gathered Across Street From Buju Banton's Performance--But Was There Anything To It?

Hal SamplesProtesters gathered across the street from Trincity last night.​Reggae artist Buju Banton didn't realize "faggot" had become a bad word. At least, that's the story according to friends and colleagues of the artist, who stood in front of Trincity/Palm Beach Club last night, watching the ... More >>

In Dealey Plaza Saturday, Dallas Participates in the Global Day of Action for Iran

Photos by Megan Feldman​On Saturday afternoon, around 100 people gathered at Dealey Plaza to protest the Iranian government and show support for pro-democracy demonstrators in that country, where the regime has been retaliating against widespread protests since the June 12 election. Saturday's ... More >>

Get on the Bush: Cindy Sheehan Comes to Town to Visit an Old Friend, Sell Books

Danny HurleyIt was Bush-on-Bush action in front of John J. Pershing Elementary courtesy Cindy Sheehan and a band of protesters.We've got more photos from the protest in a slide show, coming soon.About 65 protesters -- and nearly as many members of the local media -- showed up at the southwest corner ... More >>

If an Anti-War Protest Marches Through Downtown Dallas and No One Is Around to Hear It, Does It Make a Sound?

Yesterday, about 35 people marched from City Hall to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse to protest the Iraq War, which began six year ago. They dressed in black shirts and pants and wore white masks over their faces to represent the dead. From their necks, they hung cardboard signs w ... More >>

Echoes and Reverberations: Dead Kennedys “Rock Against Politics”

In Wake of Local Bishops' Joint Statement, Catholics for Change is Born

A sign carried during last Wednesday's protest outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas As you're no doubt aware, on October 8 Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth made public a joint statement in which they told their congregations, “To vote for a candidate who s ... More >>

The Empire Hangs

44 After The 28

Remembering a trade of blue plates for civil rights

In Faraway Dallas This Afternoon, An Anti-Hugo Chavez Protest

Luisa Ravelo-Guedes, at left, and her husband Carlos, in the middle, at today's anti-Hugo Chavez protest downtown A few dozen of Hugo Chavez’s compatriots gathered in Ferris Plaza today to protest the Venezuelan leader. The rally was part of an international day of demonstrations organized through ... More >>

Geeks v. Xenu

They were anonymous, and while they weren’t exactly legion, as promised here, they were an enthusiastic bunch at Sunday’s Scientology protest in Dallas. Between 60 and 70 protesters (at a guess, average age about 19) lined the sidewalk on the west side of Buckner Boulevard across from the Church ... More >>

War Weather

See the story of the protest Underground

War Protest Today Begins at Mockingbird Station. West Village Breathes Sigh of Relief.

By now, you surely know to avoid the intersections of Mockingbird Lane and North Central Expressway beginning around 5 p.m. today; yeah, if you need something at Mockingbird Station -- oh, I dunno, a new sofa or something from American Apparel -- you'd best tend to it before this evening. Otherwise, ... More >>

The Other Dixie Chicks Doc

If you go see the Dixie Chicks doc Shut Up & Sing, which opens tomorrow, and come away thinking, "I'd really like to see less of the band and more of the protestors," well, we have a movie for you. It's called Protesting the Dixie Chicks, and, if nothing else, there's definite truth in its advertisi ... More >>

Gut feelings

Plano = soccer moms, SUVs...and anti-war protesters?

Gassed Up and Ready to Protest

We're Here, We're Queer, We're at SMU

Yesterday, about 60 people--students, mostly, but at least one professor--marched on the Southern Methodist University campus, protesting an editorial that appeared in The Daily Campus last week bearing the headline "Gays, the new Jews?!?" According to this piece in the SMU student newspaper, "Voice ... More >>

Mark Your Calendars

Long Road Home

The Right's Stuff

A Texas-based band of conservative warriors tackles the left on its own turf--the street

Keeping the Peace

Peace protesters at Bush's ranch get their first day in court

Get on the Bus

For one fellow traveler, the road to an anti-war protest in Washington is paved with good intentions and bad politics

Best Argument Against Free Speech Part 2

The signs carried by protesters at Laura Miller's house

Hand in Hand

Never mind lethal injection, there's lots of Olympic spirit here

See No News, Print No News

The Dallas Morning News sends a crack team to make sure a big story doesn't get covered

Buzz

Java jive

Whizzing inside the tent

ExxonMobil shareholders use their stock to push a corporate giant toward change

War of words

Morning News reports of a charity's ties to terrorism spur Muslim protests

Fur flies

A Dallas-based anti-fur group is targeted in a free-speech battle

Caught in a Web site

A Denton doctor finds herself on an anti-abortion hit parade

Pelted!

When an animal rights activist came up against Neiman Marcus, she had more than some dead fur to contend with

Buzz