Miro said the protesters were treated well and that the Navy tried to get them to sign papers promising they would not return to the bombing range. They refused, he said. The agents led away priests praying in plastic handcuffs and hauled those who refused to walk over the white sands into the military trucks. Agents were armed with pistols and assault rifles but were not reported to have stormed into the camps. Attorney General Janet Reno said in Washington that she was pleased with the swift, professional operation.
All indications are that the protesters have handled themselves in a peaceful and dignified manner.
Except for a few who hid in the hills, the protesters went peacefully, which they say gives them the moral high ground. Protests paralyzed traffic in San Juan on Thursday. Protesters also blocked entrances to Fort Buchanan Army Base in San Juan by noon and gathered with candles around a seafront sculpture in the evening. University of Puerto Rico students say they hope to find a way to shut down the university in protest today. The Navy insists the Vieques target range is essential to military readiness because it's the only place in the Atlantic where they can conduct land, sea, amphibious and air exercises simultaneously.