Police, protesters scuffle in Portland

Police, protesters scuffle in Portland
Thousands march across United States.

Published Monday, March 19, 2007

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq brought thousands of anti-war marchers into the streets for largely peaceful protests during the weekend, though a large rally in Portland ended in with scuffles and police using pepper spray.

"This is a war to establish U.S. hegemony," said Susan Hay, a high school teacher who marched yesterday in Portland with her two children and husband. "This is a war to be able to consume everyone else’s resources."

The clashes with police started after the march, when a small group broke off in scuffles and a standoff that lasted into the evening. At least a half-dozen protesters were detained, and police used pepper spray at one point. Some said the police overreacted. "They showed a huge amount of force," said Jake Fagan, 21, who said he has lost two friends in Iraq. "But we are just trying to march."

Organizers said there might have been as many as 15,000 people at the staging point for the march. Police did not give a crowd estimate.

In San Francisco, about 3,000 people closed Market Street, a major downtown thoroughfare, in an anti-war demonstration. In New York, more than 1,000 protesters converged in a park near the United Nations headquarters. Protesters also gathered during the weekend in Washington, Los Angeles, San Diego and Hartford, Conn.

"Our Constitution guarantees the right to peacefully express one’s views," White House spokesman Blair Jones said of the protests. "The men and women in our military are fighting to bring the people of Iraq the same rights and freedoms."

In New York, police lined sidewalks for the blocks-long procession as protesters carrying signs reading "Impeach Bush," and "Not one more dollar, not one more death" marched toward the offices of Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Actor Tim Robbins, speaking at a rally organized by the New York chapter of United for Peace and Justice, told the crowd that getting Congress to cut off funds for the war "would be a good way" to get the troops home.

"The American people want this war to end," said Robbins, a frequent anti-war protest participant. "That’s the message they sent last November in the election. When are we going to start listening to them?"

No counter-demonstrators were obvious in New York as they were at an anti-war rally Saturday in Washington that drew thousands to the Pentagon and Lincoln Memorial.

In San Francisco, the protest stretched for blocks through the financial district. A police spokesman said the department no longer estimates crowd sizes, but at least 3,000 protesters appeared to be in the march’s closing rally.