This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 11:48 AM- Carrying signs like "Impeach Bush" and "Regime change begins at home," more than 1,000 people had streamed into Salt Lake City's Washington Square by 11 a.m. this morning to protest the Bush administration's policies in Iraq.
Anti-war protesters milled about as folk singers belted out songs like "Imagine" by John Lennon and other anti-war anthems.
The gathering took on a carnival atmosphere when three protesters made their way through the crowd wearing giant, caricature heads of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and George W. Bush.
The Rev. Tom Goldsmith of the First Unitarian Church of Utah was the first speaker, telling the crowd "it's time for the post-neo-con era."
There were numerous Salt Lake City police officers patrolling the park around city hall, but the crowd was peaceful.
Washington, D.C. resident Paul Penniman cut short his Wyoming vacation when her heard about the protest in Salt Lake City. He said he came down to the demonstration because "Bush has co-opted the morality of this nation."
Although anti-Bush protesters were in the majority, the president did have his supporters in the audience. Among them was Sara Curry, from Sandy, who carried a sign that said "Thank you, President Bush."
But most of the throng mirrored the sentiments of Magna resident Arlene Pattison. "The man has been taking advantage of the fear to destroy the Constitution," she said.
Still to come was an anti-war speech by Salt Lake City's controversial mayor, Rocky Anderson, and a march to the downtown federal building.