A mixture of 25 to 30 local residents and University students protested the war against Iraq Friday morning at the entrance to Sperry Marine on Route 29 North.
Sperry Marine is a manufacturer of marine navigation equipment, including radars and gyrocompasses, for the commercial and military markets.
Albemarle County police reported that the protest began at approximately 7:45 a.m. and concluded around 10:00 a.m.
Seven of the protestors were arrested and charged with trespassing. Three of those arrested were University alumni, said Charlottesville resident Ana Azizkhani, who was among those arrested.
About one-third to one-half of the protestors were University students and alumni, she added.
Most of the protestors carried anti-war signs and banners along sidewalks near Sperry Marine, while five others chained themselves to barrels and each other in order to block the company's entrance, according to an Albemarle County Police Department press release.
Protestors also dumped old washing machines, mattresses and other junk on the company's driveway, Sperry Marine President John DeMaso said.
"The police made them pick it up and then we had to go out and pick up" what was leftover for about 45 minutes, DeMaso said. No damage occurred to company property.
The group of protestors has not claimed affiliation with any particular organization, the press release said.
The protestors came after most employees had already arrived for work and did not disrupt the day's business, DeMaso said.
Those with signs claiming Sperry manufactures weapons of mass destruction were misinformed, DeMaso said.
"This is totally untrue," he said, adding that Sperry's business is only 40 percent military-related.
Azizkhani said, however, that Northrop Grumman -- the parent company of Sperry Marine -- General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin recently have signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Pentagon.
"We feel like this war, as with so many wars, is about having profits over the people," Azizkhani said.
A small group outside a military recruiting office across Route 29 responded to the anti-war protestors.
"What I did was pretty much an impromptu response to what was going on over there," U.S. Navy Chief Vance Wildt said. "I saw a woman dragging the flag through the mud and that woman just really pissed me off, for lack of better words."
Wildt said he wanted to hold an American flag upright to show it could be done respectfully, and was later joined by marine recruiting officers and several community members.
Protestors likely only wanted media attention from their actions, DeMaso said.
"As soon as the press arrived and took their pictures [the protestors] left," he said.
DeMaso said he will let the police handle everything.
The biggest problem DeMaso said he had with the event was keeping some of his employees from engaging with the protestors.
"We have quite a few veterans and quite a few employees whose children are in Iraq," DeMaso said. "They were very upset."
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