Individuals from a variety of peace advocacy groups gathered to share information about the war, and attempted to dissuade passers-by from enlisting in the military.

The individual peace advocates, no more than five from each group and numbering no more than fifteen or twenty in total, gathered in front of a small plot of the public sidewalk in Grant Park, where Army recruiters had set up a booth including prize give-aways and various physical challenges, enticing young children to "prove their strength" to the crowd at the Taste of Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

When asked to move off "the Army's space," the individuals moved toward the sidewalk. Police soon began appearing, forming a wall between the Army's enlistment booth and the individuals on the sidewalk. The individuals, now one group, were accused of protesting and were told to leave the area. When several individuals cited their first amendmendment rights to free speech, and refused to relocate, the police threatended arrest and forced physical removal. Police, who already outnumbered the small group of peace advocates, soon began to strong-arm "protesters" away from the sidewalk, shoving, pushing, and threatening the leafletters, making violent, hostile --even offensive-- remarks. Police officers, when approached by reporters from the Tribune and the NPR station, refused to explain their orders or any justification for arrests.

Moments later, police handcuffed and arrested one student, Michelle Wu, with the Peace Enlisters. This did not quell efforts, and in fact may have spurred on others. Witnesses to the unwarranted arrest began chanting "Shame! Shame!" as the student activist was led away.

Still others were arrested for standing their ground and continuing to distribute flyers, while others balked at the police's complete disregard for first amendment rights. Others were threatened with arrest for simply reading the names of soldiers killed in the war in Iraq.

The charges brought against those arrested remains to be explained or clarified. In total, 7 arrests were made, though many more certainly may have occurred since.