Sunday In The Square During A State Of Emergency

from the Savannah Morning News:
"Federal Police spent about 10 hours constructing fencing around federal buildings. About 20 people conducted an impromptu demonstration in Franklin Square between 1 and 2 p.m.
An unattended backpack, spotted in City Market about 3 p.m., caused Savannah police to temporarily close down some areas. Later in City Market, federal police thought some young men in their 20s were watching them, so they asked permission to search their vehicle. Inside, they found a bag of marijuana. Authorities began blocking a few major downtown streets Sunday, including a portion of Whitaker Street. More restrictions are to be in place today."

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~~~A beautiful Sunday in the square.
Food Not Bombs-Savannah began the day by cooking food at the Blue House and then heading to Franklin Square to pass out beans and rice to the homeless there - something FNB has done uninterrupted for 3 years.

This Sunday however, was a little different.

With the G-8 Summit days away and President Bush expected to arrive that evening, the security surrounding Franklin Square was extremely tight. Roving bands of soldiers in Humvees and tanks patrolled the area, while streets were blocked off and high security fences were constructed around Federal buildings.
Arriving at the square with our pots of beans and rice we were greeted by 500 patrolling soldiers, 20 Secret Service agents, hords of the world's media and ......oh yea..... three homeless guys looking for a meal. Kelly Gaskins, the organizer of the G-8 CounterProtest had schedualed a news conference at the same time as our feeding. Not only were we unaware of the news conference to take place, but Kelly Gaskin arrived an hour late which meant we had to entertain and babysit the world's Media until Kelly and her crew finally showed up.
The three homeless guys we were feeding became freaked out by the Media and the military presence and left.

Nobody from the Media was interested in our beans and rice....

The news conference was interupted suddenly by a heavy downpour of rain and everybody fled the square to meet up again upstairs at a nearby restaurant. One of the homeless men, in his rush, had left a empty backpack behind......
A little side note about Vinnie Van Go-Go's - a popular restaurant across from the square. The owner gave an interview in the local paper weeks ago about how he was planning to keep his restaurant open during the G-8. Most businesses and restaurants had already boarded up their windows and left town.

But not Vinnie's.
Not today.

Not until gun toting soldiers rushed into the restaurant and cleared out the place because of a BOMB THREAT!!!! All hell broke loose until it was discovered the "bomb' was an empty backpack one of the homeless men had left at the square..... Sunday in the Square during a "State of Emergency".... and the G-8 Summit hasn't even begun..