USA Today: St. Paul March Protests Iraq War

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Source: USA Today

St. Paul march protests Iraq war
Posted 1h 26m ago

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
ST. PAUL — Thousands of protesters marched on the Republican National Convention on Monday, chanting for an end to the war in Iraq and demanding Republicans be denied the White House in November's election. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan helped lead the mostly peaceful march, which started at the state capitol building and weaved its way to within a block of the Xcel Energy Center, the site of the GOP convention.

Dwayne Baird, a spokesman for the police agencies patrolling the route, said the crowd was no more than 8,000. Mick Kelly, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC, said the crowd was closer to 30,000. Baird said 13 people were arrested.

James Gilligan, a retired Marine corporal who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, attended the march to call for an immediate end to the war. He said he opposed the election of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain because the Arizona senator has not done enough to bolster veteran's benefits. McCain was a Navy pilot and served 5½ years as a POW in Vietnam. "I don't understand how he can't gravitate himself toward tackling these issues," said Gilligan, 27. He complained that he has received minimal treatment for post traumatic stress disorder that he said led to an attempted suicide last year. "It's shameful."

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Police and protesters began clashing days before Monday's march began. Ramsey County sheriff's deputies and FBI agents arrested six members of a group calling themselves the "RNC Welcoming Committee" over the weekend and confiscated axes, sledgehammers, throwing knives and buckets of urine.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-01-protest_N.htm