Georgetown students joined thousands of protesters in a march to the Capitol Building on Saturday to protest the war in Iraq. The march, organized by the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, drew about fifty Georgetown students, organized by various groups such as the College Democrats and the Georgetown Solidarity Committee.
“When we first left, I wasn’t sure how much I supported a troop withdrawal,” Ella Damiano (COL ’11) said. By the end of the day, however she found herself convinced of the anti-war cause.
At the White House, where the march began, the Georgetown contingent joined other students as well as Iraq War veterans, family members and other supporters of the anti-war movement. The protest continued with a march to the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue where counter-protesters lined the street behind police barricades.
Though no one from the GU College Republicans was in attendance, the George Washington University College Republicans brought 50 members to counter-protest. “We live close to the White House, and we see it as our duty to go out and support our troops and our president,” Chris Brooks, Chairman of the GW College Republicans said.
The protesters were not very respectful, he said, noting that his group was mooned by a protester in front of the White House,and often found itself in yelling matches with those on the other side of the barricade.
“We try to get out there as much as we can so that the protesters know that there are people who still support the war,” Brooks said.
Once they reached their destination, many protesters took part in a mass “die-in,” in which they laid down in front of the Capitol Building.
“It was a big act of civil disobedience,” Damiano said. “Everything we did up to that point there was a permit for, but this we did without a permit.” She added that many other Georgetown students took part in the die-in.
“I expected it to be a lot of young, idealistic college kids, but there were older people there too, and not just old hippies,” Christina Cauterucci (COL ’10), one of the first students to lie down, said. “The woman lying next to me could have been my mom.”
Some protesters crossed the barricade that was in front of the Capitol steps and were promptly arrested. According to Sergeant Kimberly Schneider, a Public Information Officer for the United States Capitol Police, a total of 192 people were arrested, some of them Iraq War veterans.
Though no Georgetown students were arrested, Julia Shindel (COL ’10) did bring with her $125 for bail, “just in case.” A seasoned protester, Shindel said she was surprised at the brutality of police treatment, noting that she saw a nun arrested along with numerous soldiers. For other Georgetown students, this was a new experience.
“This was my first big protest,” Maher Ali (SFS ’11), who has lived in Bahrain for the past six years, said. “I’ve participated in protests at home, but they were much smaller.” This protest was also different for Ali because in Bahrain all of his classmates at the American school he attended were pro-Bush and pro-war; their parents were in the Navy.
“A lot of people think that if you are against the war, you are against the troops,” Ali said, “but our signs said ‘Support our troops. Bring them home.’”
