200 protest war in Las Vegas; nearly 100 in Reno

RENO -- Anti-war groups mobilized in Nevada on Thursday, organizing peace vigils and rallies in Reno and Las Vegas and urging bigger turnouts this weekend to protest what they say is an illegal war in Iraq.

About 200 protesters carrying signs and chanting slogans marched in downtown Las Vegas during the evening rush hour while more than 80 gathered at the Bruce R. Thompson federal building in Reno to declare the federal government "a crime scene."

Another 50 people said prayers and sang hymns in English, Latin and Hebrew during an hour-long interfaith service Thursday night at Trinity Episcopal Church in Reno.

"We need to listen to the rest of the world," said John Becan, a backer of the Reno Anti-War Coalition. "I don't believe this war is about freedom for anybody. It's about oil."

Demonstrators at the federal courthouse in Reno waved American flags and carried signs bearing messages such as "No Blood for Oil," "Peace is Patriotic" and "We Support Our Troops -- But This War Is Wrong."

"I think a lot of people like me are disillusioned by the fact the country that we love and that has stood for the law is now invading a country that has not attacked us," said Patricia Gehr, a member of Sierra Interfaith Action for Peace in Reno.

"People should act according to their conscience, which is what people who oppose the war are doing," she said. She said they plan a larger protest Saturday at the federal building "to mourn for the dead."

In Las Vegas, demonstrators yelled: "Hell no we won't go. We won't go for Texaco." About 200 armed with placards and bullhorns marched several blocks from the federal courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard to the Fremont Street Experience. They were escorted by mounted police and plenty of hecklers in passing cars but no trouble was reported. Another rally was planned there Saturday.

"Not all Americans support this war," said JoNell Thomas, a Las Vegas criminal lawyer. "We are in the middle of a war because the president is trying to hide a horrible economy."

A tearful Maythe Figueroa, 26, of Los Angeles, was holding a sign that read: "No Blood for Oil."

"I'm so sad because a lot of people are going to die," Figueroa said.

Not everybody was against the war.

Sisters Taylor and Summer Dew, 18 and 20 respectively, were doing a Hula dance to the song "Ballad of the Green Beret."

"We are trying to show our government and troops that we support them," Summer Dew said.

More than 400 people rallied outside the state Legislature in Carson City on Wednesday in support of U.S. troops. A similar rally was planned Saturday in downtown Reno several blocks from the scheduled anti-war protest.

The interfaith service Thursday night in Reno was entitled, "Peace and Patriotism: A Prayerful Perspective." Muslim leaders joined Jews, Roman Catholics and other Christians in prayers for President Bush, those in the armed forces, the people of Iraq and "the whole human family."

"Reasonable people disagree on the appropriateness of this war," Rabbi Myra Soifer said.

"Let us never imagine that God is on our side alone. ... Any such stance should make all Americans cringe," she said.

Jill Ransom, a nurse who helped organize the Reno protest, said the coalition includes "people from all walks of life who believe this war is illegal.

"Hand-to-hand combat when we first started out as human beings is a long time gone," Ransom said.

"Now, we are talking about annihilating hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of hours," she said.

Coalition leaders urged protesters to express their support for U.S. troops even as they oppose the war in Iraq.

"I would say that you can oppose the war and not oppose the people who are being made to fight in the war," said Stewart Stout, 18, Reno.

"The soldiers who are going over there didn't start this war. They are just following orders."