Three demonstrators with Students for a Free Tibet were arrested in San Francisco today after they climbed the Golden Gate Bridge and hung a protest banner that read, “”One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 08”. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Yangchen Lhamo, a Tibetan American who lives in San Francisco, said Students for a Free Tibet hopes to persuade the International Olympic Committee to keep the torch out of Tibet this summer. It is scheduled to pass through Tibet on June 19-21.
Lhamo said the group planned other protests Tuesday and Wednesday that she said would be peaceful. On Tuesday, there will be an alternative torch event, the celebration of the Tibetan Freedom Torch, beginning at 11 a.m. at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco.
This from a Standard Newswire press release:
“In two days, the Chinese government is bringing the Olympic torch to San Francisco, while inside Tibet it continues its brutal and violent crackdown on Tibetans crying out for freedom,” said Tashi Sharzur, spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet and one of the activists detained in today’s action. “The International Olympic Committee must immediately withdraw Tibet from the Torch Relay route. Carrying the Olympic torch through Tibet would exacerbate the crisis and cause yet more suffering for the Tibetan people.”
“San Francisco has a long, proud history of standing up for human rights and freedom, and we will not allow China’s government to make a mockery of everything this city stands for,” said Laurel Sutherlin, one of the climbers and a spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet. “Gavin Newsom has privately agreed to express his concern with the IOC over China’s torch going through Tibet. Mayor Newsom must now publicly follow up on this promise and call for Tibet to be removed from the torch route.”
Video of the protesters here:
