‘Our right to protest’

NEWPORT BEACH — Protesters swarmed the intersection outside the Island Hotel Saturday night to protest an appearance by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who came to the hotel to make a speech and accept an award from a conservative institute.

The protesters, many of whom identified themselves as members of anti-war groups, drew a steady series of honks from motorists and often shouted slogans at drivers who gave no response. Inside the hotel by Fashion Island, the Claremont Institute prepared to honor Rumsfeld with its annual Statesmanship Award and listen to speeches by the former defense secretary as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, who was scheduled to speak through a video link.

“We’re here to make a statement to Mr. Rumsfeld that not everyone bought his lies,” said Whittier resident Arturo Cambron, whose son is stationed in Baghdad.

Neither the picketers nor most media got into the ceremony, which Claremont Institute Vice President Brian Calle said had a small select audience, but the demonstrators put on such a show that at one point, a pair of Rumsfeld supporters ventured outside and engaged in a debate with the angry crowd. A man carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, who declined to give his name, had to be restrained by other protesters when he began to shout and curse at a Claremont official.

Hans Zeiger, a graduate student from Pepperdine University who accompanied the official outside, said afterward that he took the protest in stride.

“We’ve got members of our generation who are fighting to uphold the right of those people to protest on that corner,” he said. “However we may feel about the politics of that war, we should be supporting our troops.”

Chuck Horvath, the president of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, said likewise that he respected Rumsfeld’s First Amendment rights, even though his respect ended there.

“I am supportive of his right to speak, just as I am supportive of our right to protest who I consider one of the biggest war criminals in the world,” he said.

The occasion at the Island Hotel was the institute’s 20th annual Sir Winston Churchill Dinner, in which the Statesmanship Award winner receives a bronze bust of the former British prime minister. Calle said his group had long admired Rumsfeld, a key player in the buildup to the Iraq War, and considered him a consummate patriot.

“Secretary Rumsfeld has always been courageous in making difficult decisions in difficult times, and that is why we chose to honor him tonight,” Calle said.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.