Protesters to Sit In At Stock Exchange

NEW YORK--Between 8 and 9 a.m. today, 500 or more anti-nuclear protesters will mass in front of the doors of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in an attempt to prevent employees from reporting to work.

Police have promised to arrest the demonstrators, who are demanding the stock exchange "de-list" 61 corporations involved in the nuclear power industry, removing them from NYSE trading.

"Our purpose is to prevent the exchange from operating," Cindy Leerer, organizer of the "Manhattan Project," told a crowd of 2000 in front of the World Trade Center.

Some organizers predicted privately that protesters would be quickly arrested, adding that the chance of halting trading on the exchange floor was small. "We'll probably sit down and make our point and get taken away," one organizer who asked not to be identified said yesterday.

The demonstration marks the 50th anniversary of the "crash" of 1929, when plummeting stock prices triggered a depression that lasted a decade.

NYSE officials, in a memorandum distributed to employees Friday, instructed them to arrive early for work.

Police will man four check-in points for stock exchange employees. "The Wall Street action group has a right to peacably demonstrate. The exchange, however, has an obligation to continue operation," NYSE spokesman Vincent W. Plaza said.

Demonstrators will not forcibly resist arrest, although many plan to "go limp" making it harder for city police to remove them.

The peaceful approach is in sharp contrast to the Seabrook occupation attempt three weeks ago, when demonstrators with wire-cutters were repelled by Mace-and-tear-gas-wielding police and national guard.

"That was the more violent wing at Seabrook," one organizer of today's protest said. "The New York police will probably be better behaved than the New Hampshire national guard," he added.

Organizers had hoped that as many as 10,000 would gather for yesterday's rally. Press Coordinator Mary Jane Sullivan blamed the poor attendance on the cold weather and rain.

"The turnout at the rally doesn't worry me," Sullivan said, adding that those involved in today's civil disobedience action are "intensely committed. They'll be there rain or shine."

Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg '52, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the American public, told the crowd at yesterday's rally he plans to join in the illegal blockade.

Calling for a decentralization of economic power, Ellsberg said, "No leader in the world should be given the authority to decide when and where to build a nuclear reactor."

"The average American is already anti-Wall Street," folk-singer Pete Seeger said, predicting that the blockade attempt would win public support for the anti-nuclear movement.

Harvard owns stock in several of the companies on the protesters' "profits of doom" list, including General Electric, Exxon, Gulf Oil, Atlantic Richfield Oil, and Kerr-McGee