10 Photos of January 27th

20 arrested in Denver anti-war protest

By The Associated Press
January 27, 2003

Police arrested 20 protesters of war against Iraq who blocked entrances to a downtown building Monday that houses offices of an oilfield-services company.

About 100 supporters with anti-war pins and handmade posters sang "We Shall Overcome," chanted and cheered as officers shouted warnings to protesters and peacefully carried away arrestees, ages 17 to 79, on trespassing charges.

Some protesters contended President Bush is urging military action against Iraq to protect oil interests, while others said they disagreed with the consequences of war.

They gathered outside offices of Houston-based Halliburton Co., which was once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.
The company said it had no comment on the protest.

World War II veteran Ken Seaman, dressed in a tan suit and tie, said the United States has been involved in "meaningless" wars in the Persian Gulf, Korea and Vietnam.

"I’m trying to make a statement," said Seaman, 79. "I know it’s a small statement, but if enough people say it, maybe it will make a difference." He was one of 20 who agreed beforehand they would be arrested.

The human blockade was part of two anti-war rallies on the day chief arms inspector Hans Blix told the U.N. Security Council that Baghdad had not genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding it disarm.

Seaman said the news did not affect his beliefs.

The morning began with a rally that drew about 200 people, police said, at the Auraria campus that houses three colleges.
"I don’t believe anyone should fight for oil, let alone kill for it," Felicia Woodson shouted to a crowd as students heading to class weaved through rallygoers.

University of Colorado-Denver student Ashley Bateman, 19, sat on the fringes and watched. She said she opposes war, even though her father, a Vietnam veteran, would support one.

"I’ve seen how war affects families," she said. "My dad was a medic, and he saw all the blood and gore." Onlooker and Metropolitan State College of Denver student Jason Hiester, 20, said he didn’t trust Bush’s arguments for war.

"I can’t help it. He looks like a deer in headlights to me. I don’t believe a word out of his mouth," he said.

The rally moved downtown, where curious office workers at the same building as Halliburton giggled at marchers through glass walls.

David Allred, 38, said he did not think any war would be motivated by oil.

"We’re out there looking for weapons," he said. "I think a lot of these people (protesters) would be singing a different tune if their 6-year-old daughter died from chemical weapons." Police Cmdr. Michael Battista said about 30 officers were on the scene.

One protester mumbled, "Are they going to arrest us or what?" as police and SWAT officers waited for the building’s property manager to file a complaint and to give rallygoers a chance to leave voluntarily.

Carolyn Bninski, 53, of Boulder, hung signs saying "No war for oil" and "Why is our oil under their sand?" around her neck.
"There’s going to be massive civilian deaths if we go to war.

That’s not acceptable to me," she said. "For me to get arrested is a small sacrifice."

10 Photos of January 27th, 2003, Auraria Rally and Civil Disobedience action in Denver

Photo credit: Remy K. (CCMEP) - Click on picture for bigger format