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. Protesters Tear Gased In Colorado Springs By The Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS - Police fired tear gas at
anti-war protesters after they blocked a major thoroughfare Saturday,
sending at least two people to the hospital.
Police arrested an unknown number of protesters, who forced the closure
of a half-mile stretch of Academy Boulevard, police spokesman Lt. Skip
Arms said.
Arms denied press reports that police also fired rubber bullets at the
demonstrators, who were protesting the United States' threatened strike on
Iraq. He said police fired tear gas after the protesters refused repeated
warnings to disperse.
The protesters emptied into the street after a rally at neighboring
Palmer Park, an event that drew about 3,000 people from around Colorado.
Police would not provide an estimate of the crowd.
Some of the protesters stood in the street while others danced chanting
"Who owns the street? We own the street!", angering some of the
people who remained in the park.
Arms said the protesters had told police they planned to have a
peaceful rally but he said police had received intelligence indicating
that some protesters would try to break laws.
Some of the protesters were also planning to hold a "die in"
outside nearby Peterson Air Force and block the main gate to the base,
headquarters of the United States' new joint military homeland defense
command.
There they planned to pour blood to represent the Iraqis and U.S.
soldiers who would die in a war.
Members of the Colorado Coalition Against War in Iraq said they invited
protesters from across the state to Colorado Springs because it is home to
the largest concentration of military personnel and facilities in the
state.
Well over a million people turned out in cities across the country and
around the world on Saturday to protest the possible war.
In Boulder, home of the University of Colorado, an anti-war group
circulated a petition to impeach President Bush on the city's pedestrian
mall.
"The current administration is using fear tactics and the threat
of perpetual war to control the American public," said Alexia Parks,
spokeswoman for the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. 
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