PPRC to Continue with Friday 5:00 p.m. Peace Rallies/Marches on Pioneer Courthouse Square;
No Other Weekly PPRC Events Planned

Event: PPRC to Hold Only Weekly Rally and March on Fridays at 5:00
p.m.
Date: Every Friday
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Place: Pioneer Courthouse Square

Contrary to a mistaken announcement sent out on the PPRC e-mail
distribution, the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition will not be
holding regular Monday 5:00 p.m. peace rallies and marches on Pioneer
Courthouse Square. The mistaken e-mail announcement was picked up by several
local media outlets and was quickly propagated through the community.

The PPRC regrets this error, and is requesting that all local media revise
community calendars that currently list PPRC as the organizer or sponsor for
Monday gatherings at Pioneer Courthouse Square. At this time, the PPRC has no
plans to organize any additional Monday gatherings at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

"We will of course continue to hold the Friday 5:00 p.m. peace rallies
at Pioneer Courthouse Square," said PPRC spokesperson, Will Seaman. "The
Monday rallies of the last two weeks following the start of the US war on Iraq were not intended to become regular events like the Friday
rallies."

Seaman said that PPRC regrets the mistaken announcement, but that the
group is confident that other local peace organizations will continue to plan
actions against the war that are scheduled throughout the week.

"We've already seen new weekly peace marches and rallies springing up
throughout the city, and in other parts of Oregon and Washington," said
Seaman, "so we see little need for PPRC to expand our rally planning to
include a second day on Pioneer Courthouse Square." Seaman said that
the Friday rallies would continue, and that they will continue to be
permitted by the city indefinitely. "As long as it makes sense in order to
assure the safety and effectiveness of our Friday gatherings, we will continue to
get a permit from the city," said Seaman.

Seaman said that the mistaken e-mail announcement about a new PPRC
weekly rally resulted from a simple misunderstanding among PPRC volunteers.
"But once the e-mail went out, it was quickly posted to a local webpage, and
was then picked up by local media and published as fact," said Seaman.
"This unfortunate episode illustrates both the power, and the rather
unsettling shortcomings, of the internet as a tool for community organizers."

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