DENVER—About 1,000 anti-war activists marched peaceably through downtown Denver on the eve of the Democratic convention, waving signs and chanting, “Stop the torture, stop the war. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
In a wheelchair leading the march was anti-war activist Ron Kovic, the paralyzed Vietnam veteran whose story was chronicled in the book and movie “Born on the Fourth of July.”
“The whole world is going to be watching, and we will march with dignity and discipline today,” Kovic said.
At a rally before the march, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan told the crowd little has changed since her monthlong protest outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, in 2005.
“Now, three years later, our country is still mired in the Middle East. We’re talking about more war, more cold war, and Russia and Georgia, and invading Iran and Pakistan,” she said.
Some of the marchers wore papier-mâché heads that looked like President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The signs they carried promoted causes from medical marijuana to trade to ending the war.
Police in riot gear patrolled on bicycles and on foot. It wasn’t immediately clear if there were any march-related arrests.
There were arrests related to convention events for disturbing the peace, interference with police and trespassing, said John Hahn, a spokesman for the city’s Joint Information Center. He said authorities may not have the arrest total until Monday.
Another peace march including members of the group Code Pink headed down the city’s downtown pedestrian mall Sunday afternoon, past people eating on restaurant patios and others buying political buttons and T-shirts. Shuttle bus service along the mall was halted for about 15 minutes in mid-afternoon because protesters marching through the area were in the way, Regional Transportation District spokesman Scott Reed said.
There were a few minor incidents. Marchers shouted at a Fox News Channel crew trying to interview a controversial former University of Colorado professor, Ward Churchill, who was fired last year after upsetting people with an essay comparing some Sept. 11 victims to Nazis.
While protesters said they had been permitted to march to a spot near the Pepsi Center, Recreate 68 activist Glenn Spagnuolo said he told police they would continue on to the main security checkpoint outside the Pepsi Center and risk mass arrests. However, he said he kept in touch with police during the march and the protesters were allowed to keep marching to that security checkpoint.
Then, after a brief consultation with police, protesters won permission to continue farther after promising to get on the sidewalk after a few blocks. Then they circled back toward the Capitol, getting honks and waves from some of the drivers passing by.
Spagnuolo praised police officers for working with him during the march.
“We didn’t need to have a violent confrontation,” he said.
This week’s Democratic convention has drawn thousands of protesters to Denver; Sunday’s demonstration was the first of at least five planned by the group Recreate 68. While the group is nonviolent, its name hearkens the protests that became riots during the Democratic National Convention 40 years ago in Chicago.
Nearby, about 50 counter-demonstrators waved American flags, sang the National Anthem and held signs praising Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Nancy Hecker of Colorado Springs held a sign decorated with a picture of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Her son, Maj. Bill Hecker, died in Iraq in January 2006.
“I’m here to honor our son and the sacrifice he made for our country and to support the troops and the families who give so much,” Hecker said.
———
Associated Press Writer Mary Hudetz contributed to this report.
