First-Person: Protestors Disappointed by Olympic Torch Route on San Francisco Waterfront

More Government Lies

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has been promising for weeks that protests of the People's Republic of China publicity run of the Olympic torch would be allowed within sight of the torchbearers. He lied.

I arrived at the Embarcadero foot of Market Street at 11 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, where the run was supposed to end was filled with red flags. With a "Free Tibet" headband, color coded as a Darfur demonstrator (green) an carrying a "China: Extinguish the Flames of GENOCIDE in Darfur" sign, I walked around the plaza without incident. The only persons who talked to me were Taiwanese activists whom I know.

The noise level in the plaza was too high for me, and I wanted to see turnout along the route. I was walking along the Embarcadero toward McCovey Cove, where the run was supposed to start. There seemed to be as many people with Tibet flags as with PRC ones, but there were not very many people then. Even at 1 p.m., when the opening was supposed to be sending the torch our way, the crowd was considerably less dense than the crowds for the Gay Pride Parade or for the 49ers Superbowl victory parades (yeah, I know there hasn't been one in a while!). A crowd of ten thousand (the official estimate) is not particularly large by San Francisco standards. Indeed, the number of employees of the City and County of San Francisco who earned more than $110,000 in 2007 is half that.

I saw some unoccupied benches above the sidewalk. Back support was too inviting (an unexpected) to pass up. I was across from the Ferry Building, able to see the intersection of Market and Embarcadero by standing on the bench.

Gradually, four TV news crews showed up and set up where I was. I congratulated myself on picking a good location. A crew member put up yellow tape emblazoned "Hot Set" the discouraged some people from going into the area, though others went over or under the tape.

I thought I'd have the added advantage of being close enough to hear what the tv news staff heard. One confirmed that the torch had left McCovey Torch, but not up the route. No one at KPIX (her station) knew where it had gone. (It was snuck into and through a pier and onto a bus.)