Oops! I don't know what I did to my attempted link to the Guardian article, but it seems to have wiped out the rest of my post! Here's what I'd tried to say then:

On TV over the weekend, I saw a sound bite of a firefighter's union man, saying that the protest was supposed to consist of a peaceful march followed by a short service, after which the protesters were supposed to disperse. The man was lamenting the fact that some people in the crowd didn't follow the guidelines set down by the organizers of the protest.

I also saw a video clip of the protest itself, where men were talking with one another in a level tone, and trying to calm each other down. Actually, cooler heads seem to have prevailed: out of hundreds of protesters, only 11 or 12 were arrested and, according to ABC News, these will be charged with misdemeanors.

Tempers flared. it happens, under far less trying circumstances. But DougR is right: this was only a minor tiff. Major embarrassment, but minor tiff.

I also agree with Whistle Stop about safety being a priority. In addition to the dangers involved in extricating bodies from the monumental amount of debris while heavy equipment is moving around the site, there is the fact that these bodies have been decomposing there for a couple of months now, so the possibility of the spread of disease must be considered.