Some brandished signs saying, "Stand Up for Peace," "Abstain from War," and "Honk for Peace."
Others chanted, accompanied by the beat of African drums, "Bush, Bush, you corporate whore. We don't want your war no more!"
While many Charlottesville residents and University students celebrated the first day of spring Saturday, others commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Iraq War by participating in a demonstration sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice called, "The World Still Says No to War."
About 100 people of all ages, including a three-year-old boy who handed out fliers, gathered at the intersection of Barracks Road and Emmet Street to "join the worldwide demonstration for peace and an end to war and occupation on the one-year anniversary of the pre-emptive war on Iraq," according to a media statement issued by the CCPJ.
CCPJ Board member Sue Chase said protestors were voicing opposition to a variety of issues, ranging from President George W. Bush's economic policies to the "war at home."
"This is the one-year anniversary of the attack on Iraq, so we're asking for diplomatic means" to end the war, Chase said. "We're asking for an end to the occupation. We're asking to bring the troops home, and we're asking our administration to pay attention to the country's needs."
Chase said she was happy with the turnout, citing the CCPJ's goal of having at least 20 people on every corner of the intersection.
Virginia Rovnyak, another CCPJ Board member, said she believed the United States engaged in war under false pretenses.
"The Bush Administration just started saying all these accusations against Iraq," Rovnyak said. "Iraq wasn't doing anything in particular. They weren't trying to buy uranium in Africa, they don't have weapons of mass destruction. They kept saying Iraq was lying, but they weren't lying."
While many drivers honked their horns in support of the protestors' efforts, others shouted derogatory comments such as "get a job" and "go home."
Rovnyak responded to such critics by saying, "If you remain silent, that's tacit agreement. I can't remain silent about this. This is too terrible what we're doing to Iraq and to our own country."
Following an hour-long demonstration, the protestors marched down Emmet Street to the Rotunda, where they held silent vigil to "mourn all victims of the war," the CCPJ statement said. Protestors stood in a circle around a lit candle and a vase of flowers for more than 20 minutes.
University Electrical Engineering Prof. Steve Wilson, who has worked for the CCPJ for over 20 years, said he participated in the demonstration to voice a general opposition to war.
"This particular war
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