Click to see video of the protest
More than 3,000 people marched the streets of Downtown LA on Saturday to protest the war in Iraq.
Among those who were protesting were Cerritos students, Erik Herrera, law major, Roberto Morn, criminal justice and Chicano studies major, Audrey Silvestre, women’s studies major, and Adriana Cervantes, journalism major.
Similar protests happened in other cities such as Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
However, the protest was also met with opposition when protestor Paul Mitchell, who last Nov. 16 came to Cerritos and caused a commotion about urging students to read the Bible and saying that homosexuals, Muslim and “mouthy women” would go to hell, said that the anti-war protest was un-American.
Mitchell who was carrying a sign that read, “Troubled Ones, Malcontents Lend Me Your Ear: The Fear of God is What We Need Here.” Hebrews 9:27, Proverbs 15:33 and Exodus 18:21 said that it was the fact that people had to worry about God himself and not the current war.
Herrera said that it was good to see that people did care and wanted the troops to come home.
Furthermore he called the war illegal and he said it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Morn agreed with Herrera and added that he is against the war for personal reasons.
“My brother was shot when he was deployed to Iraq,” he said, “so this war is meaningless.”
There is also another protest scheduled for Mar. 17.
Also in attendance was Dr. Jim Lafferty, director of the National Lawyer Guild, who spoke to the crowd.
Last December, he came to Cerritos during “Are You an Enemy Combatant?” which was a discussion about the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq.
In addition, he discussed the Military Commissions Act and said that there is no need for more troops to be deployed and that too many soldiers are dying.
He continued saying, “We don’t want the troops home in six months or a year. We want them home now!”
After hearing from military families who lost loved ones in the war, Cindy Sheenan, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, joined the protestor’s march from 9th Street and Figueroa to the Downtown Federal Building.
To look at more than 3,000 protestors, Morn said that he expected to see less people in attendance and was surprised when he saw that many people turn out.
“It is great to see different people from all walks of life come together like this,” he said.
