Protesters mark 2 years of war in Iraq

By Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporters Gary Gibula, Jody Paige and Sean D. Hamill contributed to this report
Published March 20, 2005


With protest and prayer, hundreds of Chicago-area residents marked the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and called on the White House to quickly find an endgame to the war.

In the city, about 1,000 peace activists gathered in Federal Plaza for an afternoon rally sponsored by the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism. A scheduled march before the rally, which put anti-war demonstrators and police at loggerheads, went off without serious incident.

After vowing to disobey a court order and march down Michigan Avenue, protesters capitulated and took their demonstration Saturday down mostly deserted downtown streets that were approved by the city.

"I am ashamed for my city today," said Chris Geovanis of the coalition, which planned the demonstration.

With hundreds of Chicago police officers and Cook County sheriff's deputies in riot gear dispatched in the area, about 150 protesters gathered at Oak Street and Michigan Avenue, the site of hundreds of arrests two years ago during a demonstration at the start of the war.

After giving protesters two verbal warnings to disperse, police arrested Andy Thayer, one of the organizers of the demonstration. The crowd quickly dispersed from the corner to the city-approved routes soon after Thayer was arrested.

The Chicago coalition had unsuccessfully sued the city for the right to march down Michigan Avenue, saying they had a right to hold their protest in an area where there would be crowds to hear it. The city was able to fend off the suit on the grounds that a Saturday afternoon march in the busy shopping district would cause unreasonable traffic and safety problems.

Five people were arrested at the demonstration and rally for disorderly conduct, said James Maurer, chief of patrol.

At the Federal Plaza rally, speaker after speaker reminded the crowd that U.S. forces have yet to uncover weapons of mass destruction, that an insurgency continues to plague much of Iraq and that more than 1,500 U.S. service members have died since the start of the war.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), an outspoken opponent of the war, and Lila Lipscomb, the mother of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq, were among those who spoke against the war at the rally.

Lipscomb, who had initially supported the war in Iraq but became a vocal opponent after her son's death, called on the protesters to remain unified.

"Remember, together we have the authority, but separated, they have the authority," said Lipscomb, who was featured in Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Cpl. Ryan Slattery, 23, of Park Ridge, who spent eight months in Iraq at the onset of the war, participated in Saturday's rally. The soldier, who fought with the 101st Airborne Division, said he came to the conclusion that the war in Iraq was misguided.

"At this point, it might be too late to pull out," Slattery said. "I just came to protest this current administration."

About two dozen counterdemonstrators stood across the street from Federal Plaza to espouse their point of view. What opponents of the war fail to mention is that war in Iraq may have spurred movement toward democracy elsewhere in the Middle East, said Vance Persons, 54, of Sauk Village.

"If the U.S. hadn't invaded Iraq, would Syria be backing out of Lebanon? Would [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak be calling for elections in Egypt? Would there have been [municipal] elections in Saudi Arabia?" Persons asked.

Elsewhere, more than 200 anti-war demonstrators gathered at Scoville Park in west suburban Oak Park to mark the anniversary with poetry, song and speeches.

"I hope other nations will see most Americans do not support this illegal and unjust war," said Fran Sampson.

In DuPage County, more than 100 people braved the cold and drizzle to hold a candlelight vigil in downtown Glen Ellyn. As one woman passed by the peace activists, she commented that opponents and supporters of the war all want the same thing.

"I want the war to end too," said Julia King, the mother of a Marine stationed in Iraq.

At Reba Place Church in Evanston, a Mennonite church that has long been a center of social activism, 20 people turned out for a quiet prayer vigil.

"I came tonight to be connected and to find the courage that comes with standing with other people I identify with," said Joanne Janzen, a church member from Evanston.

Pastor Ric Hudgens asked those in attendance to stay involved.

"I want to raise the consciousness of the people in our congregation that this [war] is a Christian issue," he said in an interview, "that this is happening in the real world and that we can do something about it."


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1,000 join in protest march here
March 20, 2005

BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA, Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter

Chicagoans lent their voices and feet to the protests held across the nation and world marking the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq war Saturday -- meeting police toe to toe here but in the end avoiding confrontation over a march with no permit.

About 1,000 anti-war protesters marched peacefully, although police arrested five people for disorderly conduct.

"America is plagued by a seemingly incurable disease. That disease is hypocrisy," a civil rights activist, the Rev. Paul Jakes, told a chanting and cheering crowd after the two-mile march from the Magnificent Mile to a rally at Federal Plaza.

"We believe this hypocrisy starts at President Bush's desk. Don't say you are for democracy, human dignity and respect, and continue to send hundreds of thousands of our young people to die in an unjust war," Jakes preached.

Dearborn, not Clark



Similar size protests of 1,000-plus people also were held in New York's Times Square, San Francisco's Mission District and Pittsburgh. Smaller demonstrations took place in cities such as Eugene, Ore., and Albuquerque, N.M. Huge protests were also held across Europe.

Having been denied a permit to assemble on Chicago's Gold Coast and march down busy Michigan Avenue, protesters thumbed their noses at police and converged at Oak and Michigan.

"We are being denied our constitutional rights to free speech and assembly!" peace activist Andy Thayer shouted as police arrested him there.

Chicago and Cook County sheriff's police in riot gear lined Michigan and Oak, determined there would be no repeat of 2003, when 10,000 protesters shut down Michigan and Lake Shore Drive, triggering a melee and 543 arrests.

Police insisted the sea of marchers would be relegated to the same route offered them last year -- south on Clark to the plaza at Dearborn and Adams.

But protesters claimed a small victory when they broke free of police -- who penned them in at Dearborn and Walton -- and headed south against one-way traffic on Dearborn. Police stopped traffic and began escorting the protesters.

"They were arguing for State Street. We said 'no,' and they eventually started moving down Dearborn," said Chief of Patrol James Maurer. "The idea was to get them to their destination. It was easier to let them go ahead, and we had enough officers where we could pre-position personnel to block traffic. Everybody got to exercise their rights."

Contributing: Dave Newbart