Another group, the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend Health Care, has applied for a permit to rally on July 29 at Love Park and then move to either Penn's Landing or Washington Square Park. It still is awaiting a decision. One holdup is that the sites that both groups want to use have been reserved by the Republicans under an omnibus special events permit that gives them the right of first refusal. Last week, the groups filed suit, hoping to force the city to issue them permits for their events. Police say they're uncertain how many protests there will be during the convention.
Activists say it is still early.
Christie Balka, executive director of Bread and Roses, a nonprofit group that funds social change organizations, last week attended a civil disobedience workshop put on by the Philadelphia Direct Action Group at which she met a number of demonstrators with their sights on the convention. Timothy H. Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the Republicans organizing the convention, said their goal is just to have a good convention. Meanwhile, Morrill, who said he planned to participate in the Washington demonstrations, is heartened by the influx of new people to Unity 2000 in recent months. Now, I'm the elder statesmen at most of the meetings. There's a lot more energy.