This was the largest anti-war protest in Minnesota in 30 years,
and the Anti-War Committee was proud to have a part in it!

We started by gathering at the St. Paul Cathedral. An hour before the announced start time, there were already hundreds of people on the scene. Folks who tried to arrive on-time, reported a major traffic jam on Interstate 94, heading into St. Paul. Before the speakers started, people filled the yards, sidewalks and streets for more than a block around. It wasn't really clear where the crowd ended!

Gathering at the St. Paul Cathedral
That little speck at the top of the stairs is our very own Anh Pham, making a very excellent speech about why we need to fight for Iraq, and the importance of including Palestine in our struggle for justice in the Middle East.
Protesters gathered as close as they could to the stage, to hear speakers and musicians.
Here you can see the crowd starting to fill the streets for quite a distance!
	More protesters, as far as the eyes could see
As the rally began, it was hard to get a sense of just what we were in for.
The AWC set up a home base at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Cathedral. We brought hundreds of signs. (But we lost many of them - if you've got one, please bring it back to us!) Here's committee member Jared Cruz, backed up by countless protesters.
The rally was scheduled for months, but the day before our protest, Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash. Some of the media reported this event as a memorial to Wellstone. While many protesters made a point of coming out on that day, to honor their memories of Senator Wellstone, including his recent senate vote against war, this was an anti-war demonstration. Countless signs carried our message, we wanted NO WAR on IRAQ.
Marching to the Capitol
When the march took off, we filled the street - all lanes of traffic, and crossed the bridge over I-94. Each section of the march had bullhorns leading chants like, "Don't! Don't! Don't attack Iraq!" AWC members' lungs got an impressive work out that day! Many thanks to all those who helped with chants along the way.
As we started to reach the Capitol thousands of people were behind us. The street was filled all the way back to the Cathedral. We had music and chants, keeping our voices loud, while we waited for more than 10,000 people to join us!
The stairs and the plaza at the Capitol were filled. From the top of the Capitol steps, Jess Sundin, our shortest committee member, couldn't see an end to the crowd.
Rally at the Capital
There were speakers and music, and of course with AWC members, there's always chanting. Pretty amazing sound, 10,000 people shouting the same thing. Along with Jess, two high school students emceed the rally, which included AWC speaker Sabry Wazwaz!
This page doesn't have too many, or the best photos, from the protest. In part, we were too busy figuring out how to move around in a crowd of 10,000 people to take photos. And on top of that, our best photographer had to work that day! If you have photos you'd like us to add, feel free to send them our way!