Riot police used water cannons to turn protesters away from the fence surrounding the Group of Eight summit Thursday, while other protesters led authorities on a boat chase on the Baltic Sea, REPORTED AP. Some protesters were blocking roads while riot police skirmished with a large group near the main entrance gate along the 12-kilometer (7-mile) security fence sealing off the summit, firing repeated blasts from four water cannons. A line of an estimated 200 riot police stood between nearly 2,000 protesters and the razor wire-topped fence. The ragtag band of protesters tried to charge them before being beaten back with several volleys of water blasts. Some surged across a farmer's field, getting within 500 meters (yards) of the security fence before they were struck by the water. Many stood nose-to-nose with officers, chanting in unison: «We're peaceful, what are you?» Thousands of demonstrators had spent the night in a no-demonstration zone within a kilometer (half a mile) of the security fence surrounding the summit at the coastal resort of Heiligendamm. A sign saying «Evil Empire!!!!» was taped on a road sign pointing the way to Heiligendamm. Offshore, activists from the Greenpeace environmental organization _ with banners reading «G-8, Act Now» _ led police on a boat chase. One boatload of protesters spilled into the Baltic after colliding with their pursuers. Greenpeace was calling on the summit to set clear goals for the emissions of greenhouse gases without the United States, which opposes mandatory cuts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting the leaders of the United States, France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Canada and Japan for a meeting focusing on climate change and aid to Africa. The summits draw protesters every year. Near Bad Doberan, on the main road to Heiligendamm, some 2,000 protesters munched on apples, drank orange juice and napped on the road as three groups maintained a blockade aimed at preventing supplies and staff from reaching the summit. Demonstrators had dodged police Wednesday, getting into the buffer zone around the fence where demonstrations are forbidden, but police let many of them stay. «We were really surprised,» said Joschka Waas, a university student from Weimar studying to be a teacher. «Here we are in the forbidden zone and we've got portable toilets set up and everything. Nobody thought the blockade would last this long, especially the police.» As he spoke, groups of protesters sat side by side on the road, parting only to let emergency vehicles pass through. «We're not after a fight, this is just a symbolic blockade of this illegitimate fence,» said Waas, barefoot and shirtless. He said that front-page photos of protesters throwing stones were the only media coverage of an otherwise peaceful protest. «Why aren't they here taking pictures of us?» he asked. He and other demonstrators said that portions of the 12-kilometer-long (7.5-mile) fence had been breached during the night, but police denied such claims. «This blockade has been a clear success; we work hard for our message,» Nicolaus Schuette, of Berlin. «These G-8 people stand for the system of competition. I'm sleeping here thinking of friends who have their problems: prostitutes, immigrants and prisoners. We are united and we are sitting here and ssa Gera contributed to this report from Bad Doberan
