ATLANTA — Hundreds of protesters chanting “Bush Go Home” pushed past Secret Service barricades yesterday to protest the president’s visit to the tomb of Martin Luther King on what would have been the slain civil rights leader’s 75th birthday.
Two persons were arrested as the protesters shoved their way into the street in front of King’s tomb, abandoning an area several hundred yards away that had been designated as the official protest site.
Police estimated the crowd at 700, but none of the protesters got close to Mr. Bush. Law enforcement officials, both local and federal, placed five city buses between the protesters and the president, who could not see them but surely could hear them.
The protesters, many of whom were white, chanted “Peace, Not War,” and some carried signs that said: “Bush Zionist Puppet,” “Bush You Stink,” “Impeach The Liar,” and “Money For Jobs And Housing, Not War.”
As Mr. Bush arrived, some in the crowd pounded on the sides of the buses, but no one was injured and the crowd dispersed soon after the president’s 15-minute stop. Mr. Bush was accompanied by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, and sister, Christine King Farris. The president placed the wreath, bowed his head for a few moments, and departed without speaking or facing the protesters as the boos from the crowd increased.
His visit to the tomb upset some civil rights activists, who said the president’s policies on Iraq, affirmative action and funding for social services conflict with King’s legacy.
“We question the integrity of the timing of the move because last year at this time he stood a stand against affirmative action,” said Sheriee Bowman, a spokeswoman for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“Doctor King had a philosophy and left a message. We urge the president to take a look at Doctor King’s message and to create policies that mirror that message,” she said.
Officials at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the organization founded by King’s widow, said they extended no formal invitation to Mr. Bush but accepted his offer to come.
“Out of respect for that office and out of respect for Doctor King, he’s coming,” Lynn Cothren, an assistant to Mrs. King, told the Associated Press.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president’s brief stop — a visit every recent president has made at least once in his term — was intended as a tribute to “Doctor King’s legacy, his vision and his lifetime of service.”
“This is a way to honor a lifetime dedicated to fighting for equal opportunity and equal justice for all people,” he said.
Earlier in the day, when Mr. Bush visited a black church in New Orleans, he noted that King had once spoken there.
“I’m really not worthy to stand here,” he said. “This is the very place where Martin Luther King stood, as well, some 42 years ago. It’s from this pulpit that he preached. Today would have been his 75th birthday. It’s important for our country to honor his life and what he stood for.
“Doctor King understood that faith is power greater than all others. That’s what he knew. It’s an important lesson for us to remember here in America, that God’s word can humble the mighty, can lift up the meek, and can bring comfort and strength to all who yearn for justice and freedom,” he said.
Mr. Bush later attended a fund-raiser in downtown Atlanta, where Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, endorsed his run for president. The fund-raiser brought in $1.3 million; the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign also collected $1 million in an earlier fund-raiser in New Orleans.
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