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(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.

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Photo Essay: See Images Of The Rally

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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.

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On Sunday afternoon, a couple hundred protesters marched through downtown Denver clutching anti-war signs, playing drums and chanting slogans like “this is what Democracy looks like.”

This was just one of the protests that took place over the weekend; those who descended on Denver to protest around the Democratic National Convention say they have a busy week planned. Monday, one organizer told me, was focused primarily on training for the week; by Tuesday, he said, protesters planned to stop random cars on the street and search them in an effort to recreate what happens to civilians in Iraq.

“Of course, in Iraq, they’ll blow your head off too,” he said. “We’re not going to do that.”

Most of the marchers Sunday said they had come to press the Democratic Party to get U.S. troops out of Iraq; asked what he wants from the Democrats this week, Kieth Gillogly, a young man holding a “Peace Is Patriotic” sign, said simply, “their ears.”

Mike Oren, who marched shirtless at the front of the protest, two fingers held up in a peace sign, said he went by the name the Peacewalker.

“For the last four years I’ve been walking across America – I’ve logged over 4,000 miles – demonstrating against the war in Iraq,” he said. Oren said his goal in Denver was to pressure Democrats “to bring a swift end to the war in Iraq by bringing the troops home.”


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“We went to war and millions of people have died based on falsities,” Val Stepien, who marched carrying a giant peace sign, said. “Democrats voted for FISA; Democrats keep voting to fund the war; and we want the leaders of the Democratic Party to take a stand for peace and justice, not just here but all around the world.”

Some of the protesters suggested that their efforts to influence the politicians in the Pepsi Center were likely futile.

“I don’t think any of the parties have my interests in perspective,” said Jeffrey Wood, who had come to Denver from Oakland. “It’s either one side of the business chain or the other. McDonald’s or Starbucks, take your pick. That’s just not my style.”

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Will Denver '08 bring up memories of Chicago '68?

It will if a group called Re-create 68 have anything to say about it. The group is promising "demonstrations that will rival those at the bloody 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago" at the August's Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

The Re-create 68 Alliance is upset that a permit for the Civic Center, a "spacious plaza" that "has been used for major public events and celebrations representing the diversity and cultural heritage of Colorado and Denver," according to the city of Denver's Web site, went to the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee following a redraw for permits during the convention.

"When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, don’t blame us for that," Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer for the group, told the News.

The Host Committee points out that it is not the same as the Democratic National Committee, but Re-create 68 says Democrats are "trying to silence dissent in the city of Denver."

The group, which claims 50,000 protesters will join them in August, has vowed to march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center (where the convention is being held) on August 24th, permit or no.