Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Chris Mathers One of many activists 'stays the course' Saturday on the corner of Garden and Palafox in downtown.

When an anti-war protest comes to Washington D. C., the city is never left wondering what's hit it. It's long become accustomed to protests sometimes getting a little hectic.
When the subject of one of these protests is the war in Iraq, it's expected.
This past weekend, a number of political organizations, joined together in a coalition called United for Peace and Justice and launched just such a protest against the war in conjunction with smaller protests all over the country.
In the capitol, the numbers of protestors were measured by the Associated Press as being in the tens of thousands.
In Pensacola, the Northwest Florida chapter of Veterans for Peace set up a protest of their own in downtown to mirror the one occurring in Washington. In an e-mailed newsletter released by the group, it was labeled as being not only anti-Iraq War, but also open to anyone with a grievance against U.S. military actions abroad. At its height, approximately 40 people attended.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the protestors reportedly went about their business in a peaceful manner, except for a few attempts by small breakaway groups to rush the Capitol building. At one point, a group of 300 made it to the steps of the building and defaced it with graffiti when the police were ordered to move their security cordon back.
In Pensacola, things were a little more subdued. It began at noon, on a cold, wet, Saturday, in the medians of the intersection of Palafox and Garden Streets, with a brief occupation of the intersection itself before police suggested everyone move back to the curbs.
The crowd was varied, and included a smattering of adult veterans and students, all of whom were there to express their views.
Surprisingly, some of the pets the protestors brought along, such as one golden retriever that had been converted into a mobile billboard, got in on the action. Cindy Trimble, a veteran of both the U. S. Navy and law enforcement, held a sign in one hand and her dog in the other, clutched close to protect it against the cold.
"I'm adamantly oppose this war," Trimble said. "It was based on a lie. Too many of our young men and women have died in it, and that is criminal."

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