The counter-rally members shouted 'We support our troops.' The two groups fell into a kind of mass debate at one point. The protesters beat drums, chanted 'books not bombs,' and held signs demanding the Bush administration 'Stop the War!' and 'Drop Tuition not Bombs.'Ī smaller counter-rally gathered nearby, with people chanting, 'We're for peace and we're for liberating the Iraqi people' and holding signs such as, 'Oust Saddam - Free Iraq.' Thousands of people, mostly students, marched around the University of Wisconsin in Madison, a school known for liberal thinking and student activism. Three people were arrested at rallies in Manhattan, police said. Described as 'older folks,' not students, they were cited and released, police said. Nineteen people were arrested for blocking an intersection during a rally in downtown Los Angeles, police said.

The Books not Bombs rallies, organized on the Internet and inspired by worldwide protests last month, took the form of relatively quiet gatherings on lush campus lawns in Southern California to marches through snow-plowed streets in a Midwest still knee-deep in winter. MADISON, Wisconsin (CNN) - Students in colleges and high schools across the United States gathered in rallies Wednesday to oppose a war against Iraq.Īt more than 360 schools across the country students walked out of class in protest, according to National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, the group that organized the rallies.

Washington township high school protest