Tensions over the Chinese
government crackdown in Tibet reached
Manhattan's West Side Saturday when protesters outside the
Chinese Consulate building threw debris and scuffled with
police, resulting in minor injuries and several arrests.
The demonstration at 12th Avenue and 42nd Street was organized
by five Tibetan activists groups and began about 9 a.m. with
about 300 people chanting and waving flags, witnesses and an
event organizer said.
Between 11:30 a.m. and noon, about six Tibetan protesters
began hurling pieces of a wooden barricade, bricks and glass
bottles at the building, breaking several windows and smashing
glass against the building's façade.
Several police officers moved in, and a scuffle ensued between
those throwing and police, according to police and Students
for a Free Tibet Deputy Director Tenzin Dorjee. Six people
were arrested, and five officers received minor injuries,
police said.
Several police officers moved
in, and a scuffle ensued between those throwing and police,
according to police and Students for a Free Tibet Deputy
Director Tenzin Dorjee. Six people were arrested, and five
officers received minor injuries, police said.
"It's really regrettable that the Tibetans here had no other
vent to express their frustrations and had to resort to this,"
said Dorjee, who described the disturbance as "a spontaneous
uprising of emotion."
Saturday's demonstration and a smaller gathering at the
United Nations building on Friday were intended to show
solidarity with protesters in Tibet, who have clashed
violently with soldiers in recent days, Dorjee said.
China ordered tourists out of Tibet's capital Saturday while
troops on foot and in armored vehicles patrolled the streets
and enforced a strict curfew, a day after riots that a Tibetan
exile group said left at least 30 protesters dead.
The protests against Chinese rule of Tibet that began Monday
are the largest and most violent in the region in nearly two
decades.
The demonstration in New York continued peacefully after
Saturday's arrests, with several hundred people behind steel
barricades.
Kunga Tseten, 35, who attended the protest, said his father's
parents and three brothers were killed by Chinese troops
during uprisings that began in 1959. The former monk, who came
to the United States seven years ago and lives in
Astoria, Queens, said that the brick-throwing was the
result of pent-up Tibetans' frustration.
"I don't believe in war or hurting people -- we have a great
leader in the
Dalai Lama. But how long can this go on?" Tseten said. "Mostly
you want to think compassionately, but sometimes for a few
minutes this type of thing happens."
Protest organizers have also called for protesters to gather
at the consulate Sunday
Patrick Falby contributed to this story, which was
supplemented by Associated Press reports