News from the peace demo in D.C.

(from the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition)

Washington, D.C. Protest Draws More than 300,000
White House Surrounded by a Sea of
Protestors in Four-Hour Long March

Three hundred thousand people marched through the streets of Washington and surrounded the White House on Saturday, in one of the largest U.S. demonstrations to date against the war in Iraq.
Initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) Coalition, the protest was endorsed by thousands of organizations.

"The massive turnout today shows the depth and breadth of opposition to the war in Iraq," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. "The anti-war sentiment is now clearly the majority sentiment in the country."

The morning of the demonstration, train and subway stations in D.C. were jammed as more than 1,000 buses from over 300 cities - including New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Gulfport, Mississippi; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa and elsewhere - arrived in the city for the massive protest.
The rally featured such speakers as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Cindy Sheehan, actress Jessica Lange, British Parliamentarian George Galloway, civil rights activist Mahdi Bray, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Reverend Al Sharpton, Anita Dennis, mother of Iraq war veteran/resister; human rights attorney Lynne Stewart, A.N.S.W.E.R. national coordinator Brian Becker, civil rights attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Elias Rashmawi, National Council of Arab Americans; Gloria LaRiva, National Committee to Free the Five: Peta Lindsay, A.N.S.W.E.R. Youth & Student Coordinator; and many more.
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is the national organization that has organized all of the large-scale antiwar protests in Washington DC since September 2001, which have cumulatively brought over 1 million people into the streets of DC. September 24 represented a broad show of unity among thousands of antiwar and social justice groups in the U.S.

(Photo: Kevin Spidel of Progressive Democrats of America )


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