From the Chicago Sun-Times
March 19, 2006
7,000 march against war on Mag Mile
BY CHERYL L. REED, MONIFA THOMAS AND DAVE NEWBART
Staff Reporters
Three years after clashing with police and stopping traffic on Lake Shore Drive, war protesters legally took over downtown streets in what appeared to be the largest U.S. anti-war demonstration Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.
Despite a legal battle with City Hall that lasted nearly as long as the war, a crowd Chicago Police estimated at 7,000 was allowed to march down some of the city's most prominent streets, including the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Avenue.
More than 200 officers, including Chicago Police, Cook County sheriff's officers and State Police, lined the march route -- most in riot gear.
"They look like Darth Vader with clubs," Diane Handelsman, 63, of Lake View. "That is very scary, and intimidating."
Some pro-war protesters also stood along the path, holding signs that read: "Not in Vain."
But the demonstration remained calm, and police said no arrests were made.
As the march began at Oak and State, 7-year-old Syanne Garcia carried a sign that read: "Don't Send My Uncle Back to Iraq."
Beside her walked her aunt Yolisma Hernandez, 31, of Elgin.
"They say it won't make a difference," Hernandez said, "but I have to do something for the safety of my brother."
Others held signs that read: "Return troops. Send Congress."
The march was just one of many anti-war demonstrations around the world. In New York's Times Square, about 1,000 anti-war protesters rallied outside a recruiting station, demanding troops be withdrawn from Iraq. In London, 15,000 people poured into Trafalgar Square.
Protesters gathered throughout the day at rallies spread across Chicago's neighborhoods and suburbs.
'We're on the wrong track'
At Union Park on the West Side Saturday afternoon, protesters held signs that ranged from the comical -- "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease" and "Paranoia is not a foreign policy" -- to the blunt -- "Stop the slaughter."
There were the familiar calls to end the Bush administration's "world domination" and "evil colonialism," and a more immediate sense of concern that Iran might be the president's next target.
At noon, a couple hundred protesters gathered at Federal Plaza.
Ginger Williams, of Edgewater, quit her job as a nurse to protest the war full-time even though her 23-year-old son is an Army lieutenant serving in Iraq. "He still believes in his mission. I wish he is right. I hope he is right."
Amid the crowd was another mother of a soldier, Marge Haracz, of Barrington, who is a Quaker. Her 21-year-old son was sent to Afghanistan earlier this month. "Any time we must start shooting guns around to make a point, we're on the wrong track,'' she said.
"He joined the military to bring about positive change in the world. He didn't join the military to go to war," Haracz said, noting he knew there was a chance he'd have to fight.
Also at the plaza were members of the Chicago chapter of "Billionaires for Bush," who carried a myriad of signs: "It's a class war and we're winning," "Cheney is innocent," "Bush lied: We made billions."
The "Billionaires" chanted, "Four more wars," "This is what plutocracy looks like," "Money for war and privatization, put the poor on reservations."
"We decided to use humor instead of anger," said Sandy Bykowski, who wore a faux leopard fur hat, fake jewels, a fancy dress and a feather boa.
A tuxedo-clad Brent Mesick, from Lake View, said the group mocks President Bush's appeal to average people. "He is really for the upper East Coast," Mesick said. "The people he represents are the billionaires."
Contributing: Stefano Esposito, Maudlyne Ihejirika, AP
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