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Iraq
LOCAL PROTESTS: At FSU, demonstrators clash and protesters march on the Capitol. Smaller demonstrations take place at other campuses.
By JULIE HAUSERMAN and ANITA KUMAR
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2003
Divisions over the war in Iraq played out Thursday on Florida's college campuses, including a dramatic clash at Florida State University, where 1,500 students walked out of class.
Police on the Tallahassee campus had to separate some demonstrators as they shouted nose-to-nose, but no one was arrested.
Most of the demonstrators were antiwar. But a small group of people who support the U.S.-led effort showed up wearing red, white and blue T-shirts that said: "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" on the back, and "I support the war on Iraq" on the front.
Tempers flared when a prowar demonstrator defaced a peace sign that antiwar organizers had set up on the green.
About 600 of the protesters later marched several blocks to Florida's Capitol, where they held an antiwar rally outside while state lawmakers wrestled with the state budget inside.
Other demonstrations on Florida campuses were smaller. Some schools are on spring break, and others are in the middle of exam week.
About 25 protesters gathered Thursday morning at the University of South Florida's main entrance, chanting, playing drums and tambourines, holding signs and singing. They later marched through campus.
"I feel it's important to do this for the people who agree with us but may not be acting," said Nathaniel Burbank, a sophomore at New College, a small, liberal arts school in Sarasota that has held regular protests against U.S. involvement in Iraq. "If we unite, we can change things."
At Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, half a dozen students staged a "die-in." Wearing black clothes and garbage bags made to look like body bags, they lay down outside the cafeteria pretending to be dead.
Others handed out fliers, showing photos of Iraqi families. Some students who passed by mocked them and told them to support the American troops.
"We didn't want to stop (the protests) because the war was on," said Mary Ellen Brown, a 22-year-old Eckerd senior who participated Thursday. "We want to think of different actions to express ourselves."
At the University of Florida, a group that formed after the Sept. 11 attacks rallied with noisemakers and signs, marched to downtown Gainesville and gathered for a candlelight vigil. An estimated 400 people were at the protest.
"We are doing this so that those who are opposed to the war and are feeling upset have a place to go," said Miriam Elliot, member of the Community Coalition Against War & Terrorism. "You need to be with people who share your sorrow. We're all hurting and sad and need to be in a place with like-minded people."
Elsewhere, some of the people who demonstrated Thursday said they came out to show support for President Bush, who has been lambasted by antiwar protesters across the world.
"This is about giving the Iraqi people the kind of freedom they can only dream of," said Ann Yarko, a 19-year-old FSU student from Orlando.