That link you posted there Sharon didn't work for me, but the one I posted above did. I don't begin to understand these things. Anyway I'll stick the article itself in here - if the American papers have down-played this story that's a shame. In fact it's something worse than a shame. I'm naive enough to be surprised even. The Guardian here gave nearly half a page to it.

Firefighters in Ground Zero clash We want to dig our pals out, say protesters

Audrey Gillan in New York

Guardian - Saturday November 3, 2001

Eleven firefighters were arrested and five police officers were injured after a clash at the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre yesterday following a protest at the scaling down of the numbers of rescue workers searching for the remains of victims.

The firefighters broke down the security barriers surrounding the rubble of Ground Zero, punching police officers in their attempt to get to the site. They seized cranes from construction workers to use as podiums to address the crowd.

The arrests of senior firemen, including a captain, a retired captain, a fire marshall and a lieutenant, prompted New York's mayor Rudolph Giuliani to say that the firefighters were "out of control" and that they did not have the ability to contain themselves emotionally. Those in custody included three top union officials.

The city's police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, said he hoped the men involved in the fighting would be jailed. They would most likely be charged with assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He added that further investigation would lead to further arrests. "We didn't anticipate that they would pick up and flip barriers on top of cops or punch police officers," he said.

Hundreds of firefighters had gathered with their unions at the site where 343 firefighters and 23 police officers died, carrying banners saying: "Mayor Giuliani, let us bring our brothers home."

The firefighters had worked virtually non-stop at the scene since the towers collapsed. But a few days ago, Mr Giuliani said he wanted no more than 24 firefighters and 24 police officers at Ground Zero at any one time. Spotters would be used to look for bodies.

The firefighters said the cutting back would turn Ground Zero into a "full-time construction scoop-and-dump operation". Michael Carter, vice president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said: "That site, besides containing roughly 250 firefighter bodies, also contains many civilian bodies."

The group marched from the Ground Zero site to City Hall, where police in riot gear and officers on horseback stood by. Once there, the marchers observed a second moment of silence before singing God Bless America. There were no clashes with police there.

One union official said: "Our message has been delivered. If we come back here again, we'll come back with 5,000."

Firefighter Bob McGuire, whose nephew was among those missing, said remains had been loaded into trash bins. He denied speculation that firefighters wanted to stay at the site to get extra pay.

A spokesman for the Uniformed Firefighters Association said this week alone the bodies of 12 firefighters had been pulled from the wreckage.

At a press conference, Mayor Giuliani said that numbers of those working on the site had been cut because the "site had shrunk and there were too many people in the way".