Antiwar rally draws many from Minnesota

09/23/2005

Aaron Blake,
Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
September 23, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Kelly Fitzgerald of Minneapolis felt so devastated when her son was deployed to Iraq in January that she needed to rely on other people’s strength to get through it.

But after attending a peace vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan, Fitzgerald said, she began to feel a change.

“Seeing other parents out there that are experiencing the same thing that I am, it made me feel not quite so alone and made me feel a little stronger inside,” said Fitzgerald, 46, whose son is Specialist David Smalls.

This morning, Fitzgerald will join hundreds of Minnesotans on buses leaving the Twin Cities for what figures to be a massive antiwar rally Saturday in Washington, D.C. Organizers of the rally hope to draw 100,000 people and make it the biggest since the start of the war in Iraq.

Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), the Anti-War Committee, St. Joan of Arc Church and the Minnesota DFL Party are sending a total of seven buses, said Alan Dale of the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, and many Minnesotans are flying or driving separately. There will also be supporting rallies held in major cities across the country, including at the intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues in St. Paul at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“This is what democracy is—it’s being able to take part actively in your government and speak out,” said Donna Cassutt, associate chair of the DFL.

Like Fitzgerald, several Minnesotans who are making the trip cited Sheehan’s protest outside President Bush’s ranch in Texas last month as a motivator.

“When she burst onto the scene, it energized people,” said Sarah Standefer of WAMM.

The protest is being organized by the ANSWER Coalition and United for Peace and Justice and includes events on Sunday and Monday. ANSWER reports that more than 200 cities across the country are sending buses.

War backers mobilize

Proponents of the war in Iraq have also organized a weekend of events in Washington, D.C. “Support the Troops and Their Mission Weekend” begins today with a rally at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and includes a rally Saturday on Pennsylvania Avenue to counter the anti-war rally.

In the antiwar rally, protesters from many different groups plan to tout a variety of causes. But Fitzgerald said the important thing is just to get together.

“I don’t think that we’re going to be heard by our president,” Fitzgerald said. “But, if nothing else, the parents and other people who are affected by this will feel some kind of strength. That’s my purpose for going.”