On assignment:
May 17th, 2006 - Halliburton Headquarters - Duncan, Oklahoma
The annual shareholders meeting for the Halliburton Company was held at the Simmons Center in Duncan, Oklahoma. The company was founded in Duncan over 70 years ago but it's national headquarters are now located in Houston, Texas. The Halliburton Company is a major player in the Iraqi War. Because of the violent protest at last year's meeting, this year's meeting was moved to Duncan in hopes of minimizing the amount of protesters.
The "Bring Them Home Now" bus arrived Tuesday evening carrying protesters from Texas. They camped at Lake Humphrey that night and arrived at the protest early Wednesday morning. A crowd of about 150 to 200 protesters showed up for the meeting this year.
Later in the protest, sixteen protesters were arrested for crossing police lines trying to gain access to the Halliburton meeting. Their purpose in crossing police lines was to execute a citizens arrest on the CEO of Halliburton. The arrested protesters were led by 72 year old Hiram Myers of Oklahoma City. Myers is an attorney and a former war veteran and is a highly respected member of the peace movement in Oklahoma. The group arrested have now become known as the "Halliburton 16".
The young people dressed in black and wearing hoods and masks are members of the ARA- the Anti-Racist Action Network. Their presence made the police very nervous.
Once again, as last year, the shareholders of the company were ushered in and out of the meeting under police guard.
