Demonstrators gathered on the corner of North Charles and 33rd Street late Tuesday afternoon to protest potential U.S. attacks on Syria as well as the University’s involvement in drone research and development. The demonstrators are members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore division.
“This is our normal spot to protest Hopkins drone research,” Max Obuszewski, the lead demonstrator of the group, said.
“We’re trying to convince Hopkins to get rid of any contracts with the military on drone research, but because of the situation in Syria right now, and our President considering attacking, we’re also focusing on making this more of a don’t-attack-Syria demonstration.”
Signs at the demonstration read: “US lies for war in Vietnam, in Iraq, in Syria,” “Stop the war machine, export peace” and “What security with drones?”
One of the demonstrators was dressed in black sheets as a life-size puppet depicting a Syrian woman.
“The puppet shows the suffering that women and children in Syria and all over the Mideast have put up with because of our war machine,” Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a protester, said.
Sevre-Duszynska is a self-proclaimed member of a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), which is unaffiliated with the Catholic Church.
Theresa Reuter, another demonstrator, commented on the significance of her sign, which quoted Martin Luther King Jr.
“He has been our great leader for many years,” Reuter said. “His words speak for most of us today.”
