Outside of the church gates, hundreds of demonstrators awaited the candidates. Groups of protesters faced off across the intersection. On one side there were Minutemen, anti-choice, anti-gay marriage fundamentalists and pro-war reactionaries that came to promote McCain’s agenda of racism, sexism and endless war. Opposing this right-wing agenda was a group that came to speak out against McCain’s plans for “100 years” of illegal occupation and war in Iraq.

Tommy, a tenth-grader who attends El Toro high school nearby, said he came to the anti-war demonstration because he wasn’t going to stand for one more year of this war and he wanted to speak out. “I don’t really remember a time without the war, I mean I was in fifth grade when it started.” His friend Samantha echoed his sentiments saying that she was there because she supported, “the guy [a protester in the crowd] holding the ‘Go to hell McCain’ sign.” Another activist, Mike, who stood with the anti-war delegation said that he also had plans to go march at the Republican National Convention Sept. 1 to protest against the nomination of the war criminal John McCain.

During the civil forum McCain reiterated his plans for becoming a war president. When Warren asked McCain if he believed in evil the presidential candidate answered with a resounding, “Of course,” and that, “it must be defeated.” He went on to state that the battlefield in which evil was being fought was in Iraq. Eric Gardner, a member of UCLA’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society responded to that with, “It appears he plans to defeat this evil with the bloodshed of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. And it is for this reason that I am going join the protesters in Saint Paul, Minnesota to let the Republicans know that we will not stand for this platform of war.”

Charla Schlueter is a member of UNCA-SDS

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The resolution urges union members and their families to join the protest. The vote to endorse the rally was taken at July meeting of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, which represents more than 30,000 union members in the East Metro area of the Twin Cities.

Phyllis Walker, President of AFSCME Local 3800, was at the meeting that passed the resolution of endorsement. Walker said, “On Labor Day, all union members and their families have an excellent opportunity to come together with a broad range of community groups and movements to call for an end to the war in Iraq, for the troops to be brought home now and for the funds used for this war to instead be used to meet human needs.”

The September 1st march, organized by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, brings citizens together on these issues: “U.S. Out of Iraq Now! · Money for human needs, not for war · Say no to the Republican Agenda · Demand peace, justice and equality.”

Plans call for a rally at the State Capitol building at 11:00 am, followed by a march past the Xcel Energy Center, site of the Republican Convention. The march will return to the State Capitol.

Walker said, “The coalition urges union members, their families and friends to join the Labor Day march. Bring your union signs and banners and help send a message for peace and justice on the opening day of the RNC.”

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #Labor #News #Iraq #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #bringTheTroopsHome #warInIraq #LaborDay #moneyForHumanNeedsNotWar

Minneapolis, MN – The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War hosted a Rock Against the War benefit concert here, July 24. More than 100 people packed the Triple Rock Social Club, listening to the bands The Usual Suspects, Truthmaze, Bad Accident, and Death Ray Scientific. The show was co-sponsored by Substance, a non-profit bookings and promotion group devoted to merging independent art, music and social justice activism.

Event organizer Kim Defranco states, “On Sept. 1 we are marching on the RNC. Each and every person needs to decide where they will be. It is already clear that tens of thousands from the Twin Cites, greater Minnesota and around the country have decided to take an anti-war message to the Xcel Center that day.”

Defranco also noted that demonstration organizers need more funds for the sound system, stage, staff, office, advertising and flyers leading up to the rally and march.

“The vast majority of people in this country oppose the war in Iraq. We’re organizing a national demonstration so people can express their outrage and send an anti-war message to Republican delegates and the world,” said Katrina Plotz, a member of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. “We want U.S. troops to come home from Iraq now and we want our tax dollars spent on human needs, not war and occupation. Anyone who shares those views should march on the RNC with us on Sept. 1.”

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