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Mar 19, 2007 11:26 pm US/Pacific
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Over 50 Arrested In Downtown SF Anti-War Protests
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Activists lying in the street draped in white sheets to symbolize Iraq's war dead halted traffic in the middle of Market Street in heart of San Francisco's financial district Monday afternoon, leading to over 50 arrests on the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq.
The "die-in" staged by anti-war groups brought streetcars to a standstill for more than a half-hour in one of several protests planned across the Bay Area, including a vigil outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home.
Several dozen people covered in white sheets and flowers participated in the `die-in' in front of the McKesson building, where U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has an office, before moving to the middle of busy Market Street and blocking traffic in both directions.
Students, grandparents and clergy members were among those who gathered nearby to read the names of Iraqis and U.S. troops killed in the war and call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
"This is what they do in Iraq -- just lay the bodies on the side of the street," said Joey Vaughan, 20, of San Francisco, as he lay on the sidewalk. "I just think it's time people pay attention."
SFPD Sgt. Steve Mannina said 25 women and 18 men were arrested around 12:50 p.m. after refusing to disperse as they laid in the middle of Market Street at Montgomery Street.
Police read an order to disperse twice and it took around 30 to 45 minutes to complete the arrests, he said.
Another 13 people were arrested at Market and Powell streets after the arrests at Market and Montgomery streets, Mannina said.
The protesters were taken to the county jail, where they were cited and released for failing to obey a traffic officer and blocking a traffic lane.
Meanwhile, a smaller group of protestors with the organization Military Families Speak Out were also arrested after going inside Federal Building in San Francisco and gathering in a corridor near U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office to read the names of those killed in the war, said protest organizer Marc Joffe.
There were no arrests at lunchtime rally outside the Federal Building which drew a crowd of around 500 people over the noon hour.
Both Feinstein and Pelosi were in Washington, D.C. on Monday, according to their spokesmen. Last week, Pelosi brushed by protesters and into a waiting vehicle outside her house in San Francisco, and a small group of activists has been camped out there ever since.
A Pelosi spokesman said Monday that she respects the rights of people who wish to protest the "disastrous war in Iraq," but asked that they in return respect the privacy of her neighbors.
Calls to the Feinstein's offices seeking comment on the protests were not immediately returned Monday afternoon.
Protesters have called on Pelosi and Feinstein to follow the lead of fellow Bay Area members of Congress and push more aggressively for an end to the war.
U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, leaders of the House Progressive Caucus, are co-sponsors of a bill to pull U.S. forces from Iraq in six months.
In a meeting earlier this month with activists who had planned to occupy her San Francisco office, a Pelosi aide said that a lack of consensus among Democrats meant any legislation on ending the war would likely not survive a presidential veto.
Anti-war activists across the country have been stepping up protests in lawmakers' home communities and offices in recent weeks, urging them to act more swiftly to end the war.
Earlier Monday, around 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Chevron campus in San Ramon to voice their opposition to what they said is the oil giant's role in driving the war.
There were also several candlelight vigils planned for Monday evening in the Bay Area, including one in front of the memorial crosses set up on a hillside in Lafayette.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)