Anti-war protesters gather by thousands

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators packed more than 20 blocks near the United Nations headquarters Saturday, the largest of an estimated 150 peace rallies across the nation that filled city streets with banners, chanting and people from all walks of life.

"Just because you have the biggest gun does not mean you must use it," Martin Luther King III told demonstrators in New York as he stood before an enormous banner reading: "The World Says No To War."

Protests were held across the nation, from Maine to Hawaii, and from Texas to Minnesota.

The protest was represented in Southeast Missouri with a two-hour protest in Cape Girardeau. Beginning at Capaha Park's Freedom Corner, at Broadway and West End Boulevard, about 90 anti-war protestors braved the misty cold by standing on the sidewalk with signs promoting peace and making a statement against a U.S. led war on Iraq. The SEMO Coalition for Peace and Justice organized the local protest, which started at 1 p.m.

"The turnout was wonderful," said Gail Lowrance of Cape Girardeau. "We had over 90 people, and everyone had a sign."

In St. Louis, about 2,000 people rallied inside the 1,200-seat Pilgrim Congregational Church, where many sat on the floor. Dozens of others made do outside in a wintry mist, listening to the rally on loudspeakers.

About 150 people also gathered inside the state Capitol in Jefferson City in a rally held by a newly formed organization known as People for Peace.

"As a Christian, I think we have a theory of when war is justified," said Jim Kemna of Jefferson City. "War is only justified when there is an attack or a real imminent attack -- which there isn't with Iraq."

In Columbia about 700 people, including the local Buddhist Peace Fellowship, gathered to demonstrate, said the Columbia Peace Coalition.

In New York

Organizers of the New York rally, who had hoped for 100,000 people, estimated the crowd at anywhere from 375,000 to 500,000. NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said about 100,000 people were in the crowd, which stretched 20 blocks deep and spanned three avenues.

Fifty arrests were made and two protesters were hospitalized -- one with an epileptic seizure and another who had diabetes, Kelly said. Eight officers also were injured, including a mounted police officer who was pulled off his horse and beaten, Kelly said.

"I think it went well. It was orderly," he said. "We facilitated people's ability to make their opinions known."

Police in Colorado Springs, Colo., fired tear gas at protesters, sending at least two to a hospital, and made arrests after the demonstrators blocked a major thoroughfare near an Air Force base.

Police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms said police fired tear gas after the protesters failed to heed repeated warnings to disperse. He denied press reports that officers also fired rubber bullets at protesters, then later said a single rubber bullet was fired at a demonstrator who picked up a tear gas cannister and threw it back toward officers. He said the man was then subdued by a stun gun but was not injured.

Anti-war rallies had been planned in about 150 U.S. cities, from Yakima, Wash., to Augusta, Maine, as well as in major cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Seattle.

"We need to leave Iraq alone," said Detroit rally organizer Kris Hamel of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against the War on Iraq.

Rallies including the one in Knoxville, Tenn., drew young and old, in tie-dyes and dreadlocks, in collared shirts and khaki slacks. Protester Rick Held said he was "surprised it's not just the usual suspects" participating. "Bush must really be screwing up to bring out the mainstream."

In Los Angeles, activist actors Martin Sheen and Mike Farrell and director Rob Reiner were among the thousands of chanting marchers who filled Hollywood Boulevard from curb to curb for four blocks. Organizers estimated the crowd at 100,000; police put it at 30,000.

"None of us can stop this war ... there is only one guy that can do that and he lives in the White House," said Sheen, who plays a fictitious U.S. president on NBC's "The West Wing."

Thousands of protesters marching to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia included Quakers walking in silence, a Korean group banging drums and students chanting peace slogans.

In Austin, Texas, thousands gathered on the lawn of the Capitol where George W. Bush served as governor. "Here in Texas we're saying 'no' to the boy from our hometown," University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen told the crowd.

Many demonstrators braved frigid temperatures. Outside Milwaukee City Hall, Marilyn and Jim Martell wrapped themselves in plastic sheeting and duct tape -- items the government has advised people to keep on hand in case of a terrorist attack. The couple said the items offered more protection against the cold.

At a statehouse rally in Boise, Idaho, Iraqi immigrant Azam Houle said she fled the "suffocating police state" 27 years ago, but that invading her homeland was not the solution.

"We seem to think we can destroy a country and then build a democracy," she said. "Democracy at gunpoint isn't democracy."