Anti-war leaders expect close to 100,000 people this afternoon at a Boston Common rally against the Vietnam war.
Speakers at the rally-which is sponsored by the April 15th Rally Committee, a broad coalition of anti-war groups-will include Georgia State Representative Julian Bond, Chicago Conspiracy defendant John Froines, and State Representative H. James Shea, sponsor of the Massachusetts law testing the legality of the Vietnam war.
"A Hoax"
"The rally is going to grove that people are still concerned about the war and that Vietnamization is a hoax," a Rally Committee spokesman said yesterday. Similar rallies are scheduled today in over 20 cities throughout the country.
Like the October 15th Moratorium rally, there will be three separate marches-originating from the Harvard, Northeastern and Boston University areas-that will converge at the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Aves. and then proceed to the Common.
After rallying at 1 p. m. at the Cambridge Common, the Harvard contingent will start marching at 2 p. m. to meet the other groups. The Boston Common rally will last from 3:30 to 6 p. m., although folk and rock groups will start performing at 1 p. m.
Before joining the rally at Boston Common, SDS will hold a separate rally at 2:30 p. m. at Government Center to
protest the recent shooting of a black patient by a policeman at Boston City Hospital. They will meet at Memorial Church at 12:30 p. m. before beginning their march.
No Random Trashing
After the Common rally has ended, the November Action Committee (NAC) plans to march to the Cambridge draft board at City Hall to protest the trial of Bobby Seale. "It should be disciplined, and we don't want random trashing on the way," a NAC leader said last night. "It will probably be a pretty militant demonstration, but whether there is violence will depend on how the police respond," he said.
According to the Rally Committee, an announcement will be made at the Common which will "state clearly that people who are led into situations where violence could occur would defeat the purpose of the rally."
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