By Amy Forlitti The Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Police arrested nine people taking part in an anti-war march at the Republican National Convention on Sunday after they crossed a security fence into a restricted area near Xcel Energy Center.

The nine were arrested for trespassing, said Doug Holtz, a St. Paul police commander.

The protesters, including two women in their 70s, were taken away in handcuffs. The protesters had planned ahead of time to cross the fence, and organizers had announced it ahead of the march, which drew about 250 people.

“We are going to march into the arms of police. Whatever they are going to do is all right with us,” organizer David Harris said to the marchers before they entered the restricted zone. He was one of those taken away.

The arrests capped an otherwise peaceful march organized by Veterans for Peace and fellow peace group CodePink that began at the Capitol and made its way to Xcel, the convention hall. It was a quiet warm-up before a planned march today that was expected to attract a larger crowd; organizers of today’s protest have predicted as many as 50,000 demonstrators.

As the march began, Harris read the names of soldiers and civilians killed in Iraq. After each name was read, the marchers near Harris shouted, “We will remember you!”

Bringing up the rear of the march, about three dozen people wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods over their heads marched in silence with their hands behind their backs. Marchers carried banners that said, “Torture Destroys Us All,” “S.O.S. Nation in Distress” and “Pro Peace Pro Soldier.”

Members of the RNC Welcoming Committee — a protest group not affiliated with the Republican Party that has been helping other groups coordinate today’s march — were trying to regroup after a series of raids Friday night and Saturday saw six people arrested and materials seized.

Comments