Salt Lake protesters speak out

About 200 gather in Salt Lake to express views on war, civil rights

Tyler Bugden, 18, wanted to send a message to fellow students on the day of President Bush's inauguration: Speak out.

"I think students need to have their voices heard," said Bugden, an East High School senior.

Bugden joined about 200 protesters Thursday in front of the Federal Building on State Street in downtown Salt Lake City.

Their messages:

• End U.S. military intervention in the Middle East and around the world.

• Money for jobs, education, health care and human needs — not war.

• Defend democratic rights, restore civil liberties and repeal the Patriot Act.

• End Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.

Many protesters held signs urging Bush to withdraw from Iraq.

It's Bugden's view that people his age are "apathetic" about the war in Iraq because the media have been biased and incomplete in their coverage. His message is for students to engage in civil disobedience in the "search for truth."

Chuck Tripp's aim is to bring Bush up on charges for war crimes. Tripp, a member of the Green Party and the Committee for War Criminal Prosecution, believes Bush has also committed human rights violations.

"I want to know how he plans to make amends for what he has done," Tripp said.

He'll take his beef with Bush to the street again on Saturday at noon for a march from the Federal Building to the City-County Building down the street. Another protest is planned for March 19, the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The goal of braving the cold and fog for protester Dayne Goodwin is to win support from a "majority" out there who may not have strong views on the war and who could be swayed by protester opinion.

Goodwin, a member of the Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice, said he is not as much anti-Bush as he is against a two-party system in the United States and against the war in Iraq.

Even if Sen. John Kerry had beaten Bush last November, "Iraq would be going on," Goodwin said.

Most encouraging to Goodwin was the strong showing of teenagers in the crowd of protesters. "Obviously, those are the people we've gotten in touch with."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com

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