This is the second of a two part series of photos taken by the editors of FOL during the Democratic Convention on Tuesday August 26th. This segment is from the Civic Center Park where the protesting and demonstrating was happening.

The general atmosphere was carnival like except for the very heavy police presence. They seemed to lurk in the shadows of trees or by adjacent buildings like the Central Library but then swarms would appear in mostly riot gear. Even the horses wore additional padding!

It didn't look like anyone wanted an incident except for one antagonistic speaker with a public address system who insulted and disparaged every kind of minority and alternative point of view. And in that case the police arrested two people who were protesting the fact that the "wacko" had their "permitted" spot.

One interesting display was a tent set up off to the side with images from Iran on silk tapestries. Without doubt this was a plea to carefully consider the human factor in any additional conflict. Very beautiful images!

Just after the lunch hour a group protesting "911" marched out of the park and into the street outside the City County Building where again an enormous number of police showed up to "prevent trouble" where there was none.

Inside the park the various groups sang, marched around with puppets or just displayed signs for their issue or concern or spoke about health care or ending the war or maintaining the Constitution. It definitely had a 60's flavor helped by the young people providing free food and the advocates for marijuana, the Safer alternative.

Peace and love could definitely reign for a little while but you had to block out the dark forces and stay focused.

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