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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2002
TAMPA -- Ten people were arrested Sunday afternoon during an anti-war rally outside MacDill Air Force Base, police said.
The nine adults and one juvenile were arrested about 3:30 p.m. after sitting down in the middle of the street, blocking traffic. They never posed a security risk to the base, authorities said.
The protesters were charged with unlawful assembly and taken to jail. The charge, a second-degree misdemeanor, carries a penalty of up to $500 and 60 days in jail.
The demonstrators were among a few hundred who gathered on the eve of Memorial Day to protest U.S. actions in Afghanistan. Carrying anti-war signs, they marched from Gadsden Park on MacDill Avenue to the base entrance along Dale Mabry Highway.
They were taken into custody without resistance.