The Battle of Los Angeles?

LA Indymedia is reporting that someone called in the heavy artillery to break up an anti-war protest at the Federal Building in Westwood on Tuesday night. Seems that two tanks responded to the scene and attempted to drive the protesters off.

Now, LAist is all about orderly protests, and we would never begrudge the authorities the right to keep the peace if a protest begins to get out of hand (click on the link to view video of the incident, and decide for yourself whether the protest was peaceful).

But tanks? Isn't that a bit of overkill?

We understand that these are anxious times, and that security at our Federal institutions is a high priority. But isn't the reason we're fighting this "war on terror" to protect our freedoms and our basic, inalienable rights, including the right to peacefully gather and have our voices heard by those in power?

That is the reason, isn't it?