Two U.S. sailors injured by flying steel bars thrown by protesters near Vieques

A demonstrator on Vieques is handcuffed after a mass confrontaition that left two U.S. Navy sailors injured

June 27, 2000
Web posted at: 4:37 p.m. EDT (2037 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two U.S. Navy sailors were injured near the Puerto Rican island of Vieques Tuesday when demonstrators in boats "pelted" the sailors with "12-inch iron bars" to protest the Navy's use of a bombing range there, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said.

The clash was the most violent confrontation between protesters and officials since the bombing range was cleared of encamped protesters in early May.

The U.S. sailors were aboard a small "Boston Whaler style" patrol boat when five small boats carrying protesters encircled them, a Navy spokesman said.

The demonstrators then began throwing "iron rebar," injuring the sailors, according to Bacon and Navy officials. Rebar is used in construction to reinforce poured concrete.

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The sailors did not require hospitalization, the Navy said.

The injured sailors were armed at the time of the attack but did not fire their weapons, a Navy spokesman said.

A videotape of the episode, shot by the sailors, has been turned over to the FBI for investigation.

Warships and combat aircraft assigned to the USS George Washington battle group have been firing inert shells and dropping inert bombs on the Vieques bombing range since the weekend, inspiring a renewed round of protests from Puerto Rican groups opposed to the Navy's continued use of the range.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps used parts of the tiny island as a live-fire bombing range since World War II, but the live-fire exercises were halted when an errant bomb dropped by a Marine Corps fighter jet killed a civilian employee of the Navy.

Bacon told reporters that about 164 protesters have been "detained" by authorities there since Monday night. "Not all of them have been peaceful," he said.

Bacon said nine small boats, including the one that was attacked, were patrolling the 25 miles of coast near Vieques on Monday night and Tuesday morning in an effort to keep protesters from landing on the bombing range.

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U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Navy
Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
Viva Vieques Libre
Government of Puerto Rico - Office of the Governor

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