Amid the tickertape and cheers at President Bush's Inauguration ceremony yesterday, pepper spray, snowballs and flying shrubbery were used in heated exchanges between police and protesters. Despite attempts to control demonstrations and step up security measures, the protests could not be silenced.
A CNN poll released Wednesday found that Americans split over the question of whether Bush has united or divided the country over the last four years, testing his promise from the 2000 campaign just before Inauguration Day.
Third-year College student Paul Mastin said he thinks the polling question does not prompt a simple answer.
"He is probably widening the gap between groups but unifying separate groups," he said. "He's strengthening his base but alienating further his opposition."
An estimated 6,000 police and federal agents were deployed to help quell Inauguration Day protesters and enforce security regulations, according to MSNBC News. The Washington Post said many experts predicted the demonstrations would be greater than any Inaugural protests since the Vietnam War.
As security concerns clash with the rights of protesters, members of the University community have questioned the use of security as an excuse to silence dissent.
"Certainly some safety precautions are at least understandable," Politics Prof. Michele Claibourn said. "But I certainly think I wouldn't prioritize security over civil liberties. Should [the protesters] be able to do just anything? No. Should they be able to have more than they're getting? Yeah."
Because of the difficulty in securing an effective location to protest noisily, some protesters planned to silently turn their backs on the President's motorcade as it drove by, the Washington Post reported.
Mastin said protesters should only be restricted if they are interfering with the functions of the ceremony, such as blocking the streets, but that he hopes to see protests conducted civilly.
"Regardless of whatever party were to win, the other side should have enough respect to acknowledge that they won," Mastin said. Protests "should be done tastefully."
Second-year College student Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli debated whether or not Inauguration Day should be a day for the country to unite behind the president and celebrate the ceremony itself.
"Personally I would like it to be a day of unity for the entire country but because of current circumstances it can't be," Danberg-Ficarelli said.
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