51 arrested in US anti-war protest at Pentagon building
AP
Fifty-one protesters were arrested at the Pentagon on the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, for refusing to stay behind a barrier, a Defense Department official said. "They were told the only criteria for arrest was to cross the fence line," Pentagon public affairs officer Tracy O'Grady-Walsh told AFP.
A hundred protesters entered the Pentagon parking lot and were told where they could stand.
"Of the 100, 51 crossed the fence line and were arrested."
Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who previously camped outside President George W. Bush's Texas vacation ranch, was among the protesters but was not arrested.
The protesters had previously arranged with the Pentagon their approach to the Pentagon parking lot and police told them to stay within the fenced-in area, O'Grady-Walsh said.
"As is normal with protests around the Pentagon, they do call in advance and let them know they are coming," she said. "They agreed to an area of protest."
She said protesters were charged with a federal crime of disobeying a lawful order, were ordered to appear before a federal court at a future date, and released.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, police arrested a pack of anti-war protesters who blocked a major downtown street during a demonstration, according to officials.
"They were warned numerous times to move and did not," San Francisco police sergeant Neville Gittens said of the 17 people taken into custody. "There were a lot more people, but they stayed on the sidewalk."
The protesters claimed to be part of a group called Act Against Torture and acted out a scene in which a man with a cardboard cut-out rifle stood guard over a half-dozen mock prisoners in orange jumpsuits.
Popular support for the war in the US has plunged but Bush on Monday defended without apology his decision to remove Saddam Hussein by force as "the right decision."
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