There were 1200 people at the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge over the Missisippi River last night. I posted over at After Downing Street on a thread that has reports from vigils around the country. Two other people posted saying there were 300 people in Edina (Republican stronghold!) and 100 people in St. Paul. I saw coverage on the news last night that showed a hundred or more in Loring Park.
We did good! I'm hoping Cindy can feel our strength!
From the AP here is more info:
Last update: August 18, 2005 at 2:52 AM
Minnesotans join candlelight vigils to protest Iraq war
State Wire
BURNSVILLE, Minn. (AP) - Hundreds of Minnesotans rallied on Wednesday behind one mother's anti-war demonstration near President Bush's Texas ranch.
Candlelight vigils were held in several Minnesota communities and nationwide at the urging of Cindy Sheehan, who started a protest Aug. 6 in memory of her son Casey, who died in Iraq last year.
More than 1,000 protesters stood on the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street Bridge, which links Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"This war has been disgraceful, with trumped-up reasons,'' said Sue Ann Martinson, of Minneapolis. "There were no weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqis didn't have anything to do with 9-11.''
About 175 people gathered at Nicollet Commons Park in Burnsville for a peaceful protest. They remained silent for several minutes while remembering those who have died in the Iraq war.
About 200 people attended another vigil near Loring Park in Minneapolis.
In the northeastern Minnesota town of Chisholm, more than 100 people gathered near the Iron Man statue, cupping their candles against the wind and a cool summer's night.
The event was put on by Iron Range United for Peace & Awareness and MoveOn.org.
"We want to support and honor all military families,'' organizer Loren Olsen said. "We feel the best way to do that is to support Cindy Sheehan.''
Twenty-five crosses were set up near the statue, each bearing the name of a Minnesota soldier who died in connection with the war.
"Why are we in this war? When are the troops going to be coming home? What is the exit strategy?'' said Alissa Miller, who organized the Burnsville event.
Miller has a 20-year-old brother in Iraq and says she fears the worst every day.
"There is definitely the very grave concern that my brother could be coming home in a body bag,'' Miller said. "I think it is the start of a movement and I think eventually the questions will be answered.''
Sheehan says she will camp outside Bush's ranch until his monthlong vacation ends or he meets with her and other grieving families.
"I think he ought to at least have the courage to look in her eye and tell her why her son died,'' said Doug Claycomb, who attended the Burnsville event with his family. "I hope it finally gets George Bush's attention, gets him to meet with Cindy and gets him to reconsider whether this war was a good idea or not.''
Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but has made no indication he will meet with her. Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families met with Bush shortly after her son's death.
Not everyone is on Sheehan's side.
Sharon Dorff, whose son Patrick died in Iraq on Jan. 25, 2004, said she paid no attention to the demonstrations.
"I kind of ignored it because I thought it was kind of ridiculous,'' Dorff said. "I think it's kind of a waste of time because it's not going to bring our sons back.''
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The StarTribune article:
Last update: August 18, 2005 at 8:14 AM
Anti-war protest draws more than 1,000
Joy Powell, Star Tribune
August 18, 2005 VIGILS0818
Tears streaming, Catherine Statz, a nurse from St. Paul, stood on the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge on Wednesday evening with more than 1,000 other war protesters.
Her sister, Patricia Statz, 41, was killed Sept. 11, 2001, while working at the Pentagon as a civilian employee with the U.S. Army.
Since then, her family has come to believe that her death and the deaths of thousands of others have been exploited.
"It's horrible that President Bush uses Sept. 11 as his reason to be in the war," Catherine Statz said as passing cars tooted support for the protesters.
Organizers said there were nearly 1,200 of them. They held candles and placards on the bridge to show their support for the mother of a slain soldier who is holding a vigil near President Bush's ranch in Texas.
Local peace vigil
The vigil was one of dozens in the metro area arranged by MoveOn.org, a website that organized similar protests across the nation.
From Stillwater to Eden Prairie to Minneapolis, thousands of people turned out to show they stand behind the cause of Cindy Sheehan, whose controversial stakeout at "Camp Casey" is drawing national attention.
For Statz, it's a personal cause as well.
"I think we're there because they've used Sept. 11 to move into Afghanistan and Iraq," she said. "It's not about the price of oil, it's about the control. It's about getting a foothold in the Mideast."
Unable to stop crying, Statz, 50, hid her face behind her sign, which said, "U.S. Troops Out Now."
"It's so sad," she said, "for our family to know that so many other families are going to be going through what we did -- losing a loved one."
At the bridge, a couple of war supporters showed up briefly, toting a sign that said, "Kill Iraq." Many of the protesters said that they support U.S. troops in Iraq but that they want to bring them home.
John and Char Sokatch of St. Paul, who were at the bridge vigil with their 9-year-old daughter Zya and two neighbor children, said they came because they couldn't afford to travel to Crawford, Texas, to rally with Sheehan.
Sydney Rose, 14, proudly toted a placard that read,"No more grieving mothers."
The St. Paul girl had come with her father, brother and a friend. While they were there, Sydney's uncle, Darrel Pinkston of Savage, called her father, Dana Rose. The men have opposite stances on the war, yet are best of friends.
"I support freeing the Iraqi people from the tyrant Saddam," Pinkston said after Dana Rose handed his cell phone to a reporter. "I think it was a good and moral thing to do."
Retired Minneapolis pediatrician Dr. Sigrid Bachmann and her daughter, nurse Tanya Bachmann, were at the bridge vigil as well. They and others called Sheehan courageous. It's a new anti-war movement fanned by the Internet, and one organized far more quickly than decades ago, when Bachmann first began protesting wars.
As a girl who lived in Berlin during World War II, she saw the hatred and prejudice foisted on the Jewish people, and then saw the smashed stores, the burned buildings and other horrors of war.
"War is extremely destructive of the souls of the people, or the buildings, or the land, of the Earth," she said. "One of the saddest things is the fate of the children in this time we're living."
Vietnam veteran Steve Weeks of Minneapolis rode his bike to the vigil.
"This isn't a war, this is a police action," said Weeks, who said he served in the Navy from 1964-67. "There's no country we're at war with. We don't even know who we're fighting."
Sue Ann Martinson of Minneapolis, shared that view. "There were no weapons of mass destruction, and the Iraqis didn't have anything to do with 9-11," she said.
"This war has been disgraceful, with trumped up reasons."
Joy Powell is at jpowell@startribune.com.
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This article is from KARE 11, the local NBC affiliate:
Peace vigils held in support of Cindy Sheehan
At the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge, cars honked continuously Wednesday night, as they drove past hundreds of people who came to stand symbolically by Cindy Sheehan.
“You look around, and there’s probably 500 or 700 people,” said Kathy Stone, the vigil organizer.
Online, more than 730 people signed up for the bridge vigil, which was one of more than 20 vigils held around the Twin Cities area to show support for the woman whose son was killed in Iraq.
Sheehan has been camping outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, for 11 days, saying she wants to ask the President: Why did my son die in Iraq?
"Cindy Sheehan, who gave the ultimate sacrifice, has the moral authority to question our government," Stone said.
President Bush met with Sheehan in June 2004, but Sheehan has since said Bush was disrespectful during the meeting. This year, Bush has refused to meet with her, saying he sympathizes with her but doesn’t agree with her views on the war.
Earlier this week, Sheehan’s group, called "Gold Star Families for Peace," purchased an ad on Texas cable TV, in an effort to reach the President.
Sheehan says Bush was, "wrong about weapons of mass destruction," and "You were wrong about the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. You lied to us. And because of your lies, my son is dead."
Her son, Casey, was an Army specialist and was 24 years old when he died.
Sheehan’s story has made war opponents more vocal, including Minnesota State Senator Becky Lourey (DFL-Kerrick), who is traveling to Texas this week.
“I am going to support another mother who lost her son in Iraq,” Lourey said.
Lourey’s son, Matt, died in Iraq this May.
Lourey said, in Crawford, she plans to, "put my arms around her and offer the sympathy that she understands, because we share the same grief."
As Sheehan’s sympathizers, like Lourey, speak up at vigils across the country, the President’s supporters are getting louder, too. Some, like author Ann Coulter, accuses Sheehan of being a puppet for anti-war politicians.
"She is not grieving anymore," Coulter said. "She now wants to determine America’s foreign policy."
But Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower and Democratic candidate for Congress – who is traveling to Texas with Lourey – says Sheehan has the right to ask questions about the war a number of Americans now question themselves.
"I think everyone does deserve an explanation at this point," Rowley said.
KARE-11 is traveling with Lourey and Rowley on their trip to Crawford on Thursday. Look for reports on KARE-11 News at 6 and 10.
By, Scott Goldberg , KARE 11 News
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