During my lunch break I grabbed my digital camera, jumped on my motorcycle, and headed downtown to check out the protests that were supposed to be a part of the “Day Without Immigrants” boycotts and protests.
I say supposed because it looks like the majority of Austin-area immigrants extended their boycott to include their own protest.
The following images were all taken around 11:15 a.m. in Downtown Austin
First, I stopped by Austin’s City Hall — which usually seems to be a popular spot for protestors and activist-gatherers. Hmmm…nobody here but a few (very few) early voters.
Next, I rode up to the State Capitol Building — where there are always protestors standing around with signs protesting something (Austin is home to a rather large contingent of seemingly otherwise unemployeed Professional Protestors).
From afar, I couldn’t see much of any activity going on at the Capitol. But it did look like there was some sort of organized group sitting on the steps of the pink granite building.
As I got closer though, I was dissapointed to see that the group wasn’t Immigration Rights protestors — but rather a group of special needs students on a field trip to the Capitol Building.*
*Note — the Capitol Police Officer in the middle of the kids was busy telling them stories about the building and his job, laced with a lot of humor and animation. The kids loved him. I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to him, too.
As there weren’t any protestors to take pictures of, I grabbed some pictures of the monument to those who died in the Alamo.
On the south side of the monument are the words, “I shall never surrender or retreat”.
A grim reminder to the Mexican’s who would gather on these steps today to protest the rights that we have fought for — rights not granted nor earned by those who are here illegally.
Just as I was getting ready to head back to the office, I did find these three young girls — dutifully dressed in white — skipping school to sit in the shade of giant Live Oak tree on the Capitol grounds:
They looked as unimpressed with the turnout as I did.
The Segcity Tours were on hand, too:
May Day Field Reports
I thought it would be good to create a separate blog entry for blogger/viewer/reader field reports. We’ve got affiliates and stringers covering NYC, Washington DC, and Chicago who will report back later in the afternoon and evening. If you’…
Left by Hot Air on May 1st, 2006 at 2:33 pm