Davis Predicts Large Antiwar Demonstrations

Rennie Davis, an antiwar activist and one of the Chicago Seven, came to Cambridge yesterday to call for continued antiwar activity, particularly large turnouts for Washington demonstrations this weekend.

An antiwar mass rally in Washington Sunday and a "people's blockade" of the Pentagon Monday will be sponsored by every major antiwar group in the country, including the National Peace Action Coalition and the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice.

A relaxed Davis stressed the need to defeat President Nixon's re-election bid and elect a president committed to immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of all military personnel from Indochina within 90 days, and an end to all financial aid supporting Vietnamization.

Davis said yesterday that the North Vietnamese have assured him that enactment of these three proposals would end the war and bring about a release of American prisoners of war.

Within this overall goal. Davis suggested that the antiwar movement "combine tactics in an all-out effort to communicate to the American people the watershed nature of Nixon's actions."

He said the electronic automated battlefield, which Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) called the "most important military invention since gunpowder," deserves primary educational focus.

In addition to educational campaigns, Davis said, the "people's blockade" and civil disobedience are effective tactics. Calling this weekend's actions "a national response to the blockading of North Vietnam," he asked for "the largest lobby in history" through the November elections.

Davis said he was optimistic about the numbers of people staying past Sunday's mass rally.

Civil disobedience will start Monday morning with a march and sit-down at some of the major arteries leading to the Pentagon.

Beyond this traditional format, various regional organizations will take responsibility for blocking other roadways around the Pentagon.

"Each region will decide this weekend the tactics its group will use," Davis said.