Grand Rapids protests visiting former Presidents Bush, Clinton: ‘War criminals out!’

Grand Rapids, MI – On the evening of June 2, more than 40 people showed up outside the entrance of Devos Hall to protest the visit of former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill J. Clinton to Grand Rapids. The war criminals were speaking as guests of honor at the annual dinner put on by the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, a networking club for local elites.

The protest, which was organized by the Grand Rapids Opponents of War (GROW) took the form of a “People’s Indictment” of Bush and Clinton. Speakers from GROW condemned the Economic Club for hosting these men, while listing their record of war crimes. These condemnations included the sanctions, invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well as intervention in Somalia, Haiti and Sudan.

“There is no Trump without the past decades of history, without Bush, Clinton and their ilk. We cannot soften or blur our historical memory, lest we be made fools of again and again,” said Julian Cortez of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Joining GROW, with speeches and chants directed towards the imposing steel and glass frame of DeVos Place, was Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Michigan Senate District 29 candidate Iván Diaz.

“It’s important to show up in coalition as a candidate because as a grassroots organizer, I know we can’t do this work by ourselves,” said Diaz after the protest. “Bush and Clinton represent the bipartisan neoliberal, corporate and imperial order that we are seeking to disrupt and end. As a voter, I want the people who want to represent me to show up in exactly these kinds of spaces.”

Around 6:15 p.m., as Diaz was giving his speech, Grand Rapids police quickly rushed in between him and the protesters on bikes, leading to a tense confrontation between the two sides. Diaz and the protesters managed to stand up to the police, asserting their First Amendment rights to speak on a public sidewalk, but a citation was issued to Diaz for using a bullhorn.

An officer with GRPD was heard making a comment meant to intimidate Diaz, who continued to speak unfazed after the officers withdrew a short distance. Despite GRPD prohibiting amplification, protesters continued speeches and chants, increasing their volume without it, for nearly another hour. The unity and anger with the GRPD’s show of force was palpable.

Throughout the demonstration, it was reiterated by attendees and speakers alike that the two former presidents sitting comfortably inside had laid much of the groundwork for the crises the world now faces.

“In my 57 years on this planet, I have realized the deliberate divide between us – the distractions, the lies,” said Kym Combs of the GR Queer Coalition. “We have been in a state of the haves and have-nots for decades, and it’s been cloaked by other things by the powers that be.”

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