Protesters trade war barbs

By Justin McAneny
Staff Writer
WEST CHESTER — About 50 protesters gathered Saturday to share opposing views on the war in Iraq and to show support for protesting outside the Chester County Courthouse.

People from all over the region took stances for or against the war and offered solidarity for protesters at the corner of Market and High streets.

For the past five years, Karen Porter, director of the Chester County Peace Movement, has led protests against the war in Iraq.

And after listening to Porter’s protests for five years, Rich Davis, who spent 20 years in the Navy and lives around the corner from where the protests are held, said he has had enough. He supports the war in Iraq and wants his views heard as well.

“(The protesters) are here every weekend. ... They are not the face of West Chester ... they are not the face of me,” Davis said.

Some of the demonstrators Saturday supported Davis’ views on Iraq while others said they support his thoughts about protesting in West Chester generally.

Huntingdon Valley resident Barabara Cunningham, of the Patriot Guard Riders Motorcycle Club, said she rode to West Chester because supporting the troops “is the right thing to do.”
Porter acknowledged that allowing both sides to air their views is necessary, but she said people who support Davis “wouldn’t be here if our message wasn’t getting across.”

Protesters held signs urging motorists to honk their horns for peace, and others held signs supporting the war in Iraq.

As motorists stopped at the traffic light, some honked or shouted, “No war for oil!” while others took the opposite position, shouting that we need to be victorious in Iraq and to not be soft on Iran.

Davis said he is neither Republican or Democrat but a proud West Chester resident who supports the troops and the right to protest.

“I’m all for protesting, but there’s no counter,” he said. “(We need) to focus on solving problems, not politicizing them.”

He said people on his side who came to West Chester were not only supporting him, they were supporting the troops.

In a speech, Davis presented his reasons for organizing his protest, and said, “I live two blocks from here and basically I got tired of seeing them every week ... That’s too much. And I was bugged that no one ever counters them.

“They are committing protest abuse — they come here every single Saturday — right here to the busiest intersection in town.

“... (They sing) songs that demonize America and say our troops die for Halliburton or oil and other tired cliches and nonsense like that.”

During his speech, one anti-war protester, Reading resident Dean Monahan, challenged Davis, claiming Davis organized his counter-protest under false pretense.

Davis said he has met with Porter to find a solution to the weekly protests and said their talks went well.

Porter said she thinks Davis “is a nice guy ... (but) the man that I saw speaking was not the man that I had spoken with before.”

“I was quite surprised by his speech,” Porter said. “All the name-calling.”

Porter said her protests are “held in the most innocuous place we could be,” and that’s why the Chester County Peace Movement chose the corner of Market and High streets. She said there is a lot of traffic, but it doesn’t block the pedestrian traffic on Gay Street.

She said she is willing to engage Davis “in conversation.”
Porter said she wonders why Davis picked the one hour a week that the Chester County Peace Movement uses the location, emphasizing that the protest is only one hour a week. But she said she then realized they weren’t protesting the war, but the group.  

“I think Rick Davis moved up the street last year and doesn’t like that it’s us there,” Porter said.

“I couldn’t disagree more (with Porter’s views) but I admire her ... We’re friends now,” Davis said. “But you can disagree with decency.”

 

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