Nonpartisan N.C. State students, along with College Democrats and alumni, joined members of Fight Imperialism – Stand Together and concerned youth from across North Carolina at the Action for Community space in Raleigh Saturday.

As dawn spread over the city, the group of 45 boarded three vans destined for Washington, D.C., where they hoped to deliver a message to Congress and President Bush: the war on Iraq must end.

The national march on Washington, organized by the United for Peace & Justice Coalition, attracted tens of thousands of people from all over the nation; all demanding a strategy be put in place immediately to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq. Among those present were returning protesters from the Vietnam era, Iraq veterans, groups like National Organization for Women, Raging Grannies, Republicans, Democrats, anarchists, first-time activists, and thousands of students.

“I had never been to a march on Washington,” Eric Price, a graduate student in computer science, said. “When the war started I was willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that the presence of WMDs seemed iffy. But as the war developed it just became ridiculous. Osama got away and there seems to have been such a detour from [Bush’s] original statement of purpose. The only choice is to go in with the 300,000 troops or pull out.”

The group that left from Raleigh, organized by FIST and led by member Dante Strobino, was funded in part by the Student Peace Action Network, which donated $350 to cut transportation costs. Other Triangle area groups, leaving from Durham and Chapel Hill, were put together through Students for a Democratic Society and the N.C. Peace & Justice Coalition.

“The College Democrats were happy to enter in this coalition with FIST,” Tara Ilsley, president of the College Democrats, said. “It is important to show that groups and individuals with different political ideologies can be brought together to fight injustice.”

The speakers at the protest rally held on the National Mall, including Jane Fonda, Tim Robbins, Jesse Jackson and Susan Sarandon, asserted that a surge of 21,500 troops in Iraq would not lead to success and that the November election of a Democratic majority in Congress is an indication that the nation wants change.

“Over the past few years I have attended the Million Worker March and the Counter-Inaugural Protest held in Washington in 2004,” alumna Leslie Peteya said. “This protest was reflective of the political climate of the country. Obviously a lot of the youth are angry about the situation in Iraq.”

While the protest was peaceful overall, there were isolated incidents of civil disobedience. According to eyewitnesses, there was a group of several hundred students that broke away from the crowd and marched on a military recruiting center. A smaller number of them breaking open a locked door and looting the inside of the building.

“There was not a lot of threatening behavior. There weren’t a lot of people holding the government accountable,” Strobino said. “But I was part of a group that marched down a one-way street against traffic. Surprisingly, when people rolled down their windows, we were met with cheers of support for our cause, rather than antagonistic yelling.”

Another group of NCSU students were present when police attempted to clear protesters from the streets as the march was winding down. Several protesters sat down as police motorcycles roared only inches from their heads.

Protesters shouted, “This is what a police state looks like!” and “Arrest Bush!” as policemen asked people to vacate the streets. One student from Ohio State, Giovanni Giusti, a pre-law senior in art education, remained seated as the crowds had been pushed aside.

“I’m just trying to be peaceful,” Giusti said. “I’m not afraid of the police.”

NCSU students were motivated and impressed by the demonstration.

“I have been arrested before, so I didn’t want to go through that again,” Diana Fakhoury, a senior in art and design, said. “But I sat in the street until the policemen asked me to leave personally, because it is so wrong for them to push around peaceful protesters. It makes me angry.”

During the five-hour return trip, the Raleigh group was excited, discussing their individual experiences.

“I am so glad I was there,” Cassie Bopp, a sophomore in psychology, said. “When I talked to friends before I came up they told me that they weren’t sure what they thought about the war, so they didn’t feel motivated to protest. I am going to bring back the energy from this march and impart the importance to them.”

FIST and the College Democrats are already organizing for the March on the Pentagon to be held on March 17, marking the four-year anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.