MICHAELMOORE.COMhttp://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestne...ex.php?id=11201March 28th, 2008 3:51 am
Anti-war protest snarls trafficRUTGERS STUDENTS MARCH ON ROUTE 18, SIT DOWN IN STREET By Christine Sparta / Gannett
NEW BRUNSWICK — Hundreds of demonstrators on Thursday afternoon briefly blocked George Street, marched up Route 18 and rallied at Rutgers University's Voorhees Mall on College Avenue during student-led protests against the war in Iraq.
At its peak, the Walk Out Against the War afternoon rally may have drawn as many as 350 people.
Later, police estimated 250 people weaved through rush-hour traffic as the protest moved to Route 18.
Protesters joined together with chants such as "Hey, Bush, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?" Signs ran the gamut from "4,000," a reference to the U.S. military's death toll in Iraq, to "Go to Class Sheep," a jab at the fact that this was a walkout encouraging students to skip class to support the cause.
The rally began at Voorhees Mall at 1:23 p.m. with a number of speakers, including a mother who lost a son in Iraq.
Sue Niederer, mother of Seth J. Dvorin of East Brunswick, an Army lieutenant who was killed in 2004, spoke at the rally.
"We do support the troops. We want them not treated like Vietnam. We want them (treated) with dignity," she said.
Dvorin had celebrated his 24th birthday a few weeks before he was killed in action in Iraq.
At two points during the march, the protesters sat down in the middle of George Street for brief sit-ins. One was timed to last five minutes, representing one minute for each of the five years the Iraq war has gone on.
When the marchers were on the corner of Somerset and George streets, student activist Tiffany Cheng, who is involved with Rutgers Against the War, urged the university to end its involvement with military contractors like Halliburton.
Rutgers chemistry professor Larry Romsted took to the microphone to show his support and recounted his college years at Indiana University during the Vietnam War.
"I would like to see this one end a lot sooner and simpler than that," he said.
A group of about 30 students and others staged a counter-protest.
They carried signs including one that said "I (heart) Bush."
The protest ended at about 5 p.m. back at Voorhees Mall after participants had marched through New Brunswick and briefly marched in the northbound lanes of Route 18.
There was a visible law enforcement presence throughout the event, including police cars that blocked off points along the marchers' route, a State Police helicopter overhead, and plainclothes police snapping photos of the crowd.
"Our government lied to us. They said they were going to free the Iraqi people, but all they're doing is occupying a country," said Cavan Bailey, a junior at Rutgers, who arrived at the rally bellowing chants from a bullhorn.