To the Point

Free Speech vs Security at the Republican National Convention

The New York Police Department flexed its muscles yesterday in a public display of readiness for possible disorder at the Republican National Convention. Meantime, protest organizers are still demanding the right to gather in Central Park. Democratic Congressmen say the FBI may be intimidating legitimate dissenters in other parts of the country, and the ACLU says the rights to free speech and assembly are being put at risk. What are the prospects for violence? Is the threat of terrorism being used to suppress dissent during the presidential campaign? Warren Olney hears from the NYPD, the FBI, the ACLU, protestors and others about public safety, possible violence and Constitutional rights. Making News: Confusion in Najaf Early today, a spokesman for Iraq-s interim government announced a peaceful take-over of the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, after withdrawal by Muqtada al-Sadr-s Mehdi Army. But within hours, it appeared that the claim was at least premature. Scott Balduaf of the Christian Science Monitor visited the shrine yesterday. He says whoever wins the battle between Iraqi insurgents and the emerging government will claim a crucial political victory.