Protesters Push Antiwar Message At RNC
(ST. PAUL) Several thousand people gathered in the shadow of the St. Paul capitol building this morning to rally ahead of a protest march to the Xcel Energy Center, where the Republican National Convention kicked off (in abbreviated form, due to Hurricane Gustav) today.
Most of the protesters had come to express their desire for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, though their methods were wildly different: Teamsters dressed in blue union t-shirts lounged on the grass as Code Pink protesters, dressed in elaborate pink dresses and costumes, danced and waved; young men in black t-shirts, bandanas over their faces, held their fists in the air and chanted slogans while two men wearing giant Bush and Cheney heads danced to a song called “Insane In The McCain Brain” condemning the administration.
More muted were members of Iraq Veterans Against The War, who, clad in stark black t-shirts, gathered in small groups away from the protest theatrics.
Vincent Emanuele, a member of the group and Indiana native, served eight months in Iraq, and said he didn’t oppose the war when it started. But after seeing the “killing of innocents, abuse of prisoners, destruction of civilian property,” he said he became disillusioned.
“This of course was completely contradictory to the mission that we were originally sent to do which was that quote unquote winning hearts and minds,” Emanuele said. He spoke of “watching contractors handing out business cards to infantry guys as they were leaving Iraq, as in here was a job for you to do when you’re done.”
Melida Arredondo Alexander brought a coffin to the protest, as well as a photograph of her stepson, Corporal Alexander Arrredondo, who was killed in Iraq at age 20. She handed out copies of one of the letters Arrredondo sent from Iraq, which read in part, “I am not afraid of dying. I am more afraid of what will happen to all the ones that I love if something happens to me.”
“The Bush administration will not show the caskets, will not show the dead, and will not show how it affects the families,” said Alexander, a photo of her stepson on her t-shirt.
Most of the protesters had come to express their desire for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, though their methods were wildly different: Teamsters dressed in blue union t-shirts lounged on the grass as Code Pink protesters, dressed in elaborate pink dresses and costumes, danced and waved; young men in black t-shirts, bandanas over their faces, held their fists in the air and chanted slogans while two men wearing giant Bush and Cheney heads danced to a song called “Insane In The McCain Brain” condemning the administration.
Photo Essay: See Images Of The Rally
More muted were members of Iraq Veterans Against The War, who, clad in stark black t-shirts, gathered in small groups away from the protest theatrics.
Vincent Emanuele, a member of the group and Indiana native, served eight months in Iraq, and said he didn’t oppose the war when it started. But after seeing the “killing of innocents, abuse of prisoners, destruction of civilian property,” he said he became disillusioned.
“This of course was completely contradictory to the mission that we were originally sent to do which was that quote unquote winning hearts and minds,” Emanuele said. He spoke of “watching contractors handing out business cards to infantry guys as they were leaving Iraq, as in here was a job for you to do when you’re done.”
Melida Arredondo Alexander brought a coffin to the protest, as well as a photograph of her stepson, Corporal Alexander Arrredondo, who was killed in Iraq at age 20. She handed out copies of one of the letters Arrredondo sent from Iraq, which read in part, “I am not afraid of dying. I am more afraid of what will happen to all the ones that I love if something happens to me.”
“The Bush administration will not show the caskets, will not show the dead, and will not show how it affects the families,” said Alexander, a photo of her stepson on her t-shirt.
