Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK – In a violent confrontation that revealed the explosive tensions simmering in the city, several hundred firefighters clashed with police at the World Trade Center site Friday, protesting plans to reduce the number of firefighters who retrieve human remains from the wreckage.
Five policemen were injured and 12 firefighters – including a captain, a marshal and three top fire union officials – were arrested in the melee that shattered the image of solidarity between New York police and firefighters.
The march, which began peacefully at midmorning, turned violent when demonstrators near the perimeter of the 17-acre site broke through barricades and began scuffling with police officers. They briefly occupied the epicenter, recited “The Lord’s Prayer” over the still-smoldering ruins, and then shook hands with groups of stunned construction workers.
Minutes later, the crowd marched to City Hall, where police in riot gear and officers on horseback ringed the building. The demonstrators finally dispersed, shouting, “We want dignity, bring the bodies home!” They said the city was trying to turn the excavation into a “scoop and dump” operation more interested in removing debris than in finding bodies.
The shocking clash drew a heated response from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who blasted the organizers for “misleading” firefighters into believing that the city no longer cared about recovering human remains. Yet he seemed equally saddened by the unexpected violence between police officers and firefighters, who both suffered extensive losses on Sept. 11 and who have presented a united front of camaraderie to the world.
“Emotions are very high in this city,” he told a news conference. “But the conduct displayed today is unacceptable. You can’t hit police officers. For that you go to jail. You have to obey the law, no matter how much you feel like crying and venting your emotions at this time.”
Giuliani said city engineering experts had told him that the site remains physically dangerous and that too many police and fire spotters, upward of 200, had been roaming the area.
The new plan, revealed earlier this week, calls for no more than 75 spotters to be in the area at any given time.
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