300,000 Protesters Surround White House

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
1247 E St. SE Washington DC 20003
(202) 544-3389 Fax: (202) 544-9359
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org

Attn: Assignment Editor
September 24, 2005

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Press contact:
Caneisha Mills 202-544-3389
202-321-3837 (cell)

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WASHINGTON, D.C. PROTEST DRAWS MORE THAN 300,000

WHITE HOUSE SURROUNDED BY A SEA
OF PROTESTERS IN FOUR-HOUR LONG MARCH

Three hundred thousand people marched through the streets of Washington
and surrounded the White House on Saturday, in one of the largest U.S.
demonstrations to date against the war in Iraq.

Initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
Coalition, the protest was endorsed by thousands of organizations.

"The massive turnout today shows the depth and breadth of opposition to
the war in Iraq," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. "The anti-war sentiment is now clearly the majority
sentiment in the country."

The morning of the demonstration, train and subway stations in D.C.
were jammed as more than 1,000 buses from over 300 cities - including from
New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Chicago,
Cleveland, Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Gulfport, Mississippi; Eau
Claire, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa and elsewhere - arrived in the city for
the massive protest.

The rally featured such speakers as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey
Clark, Cindy Sheehan, actress Jessica Lange, British Parliamentarian
George Galloway, civil rights activist Mahdi Bray, Congresswoman Cynthia
McKinney, Reverend Al Sharpton, Anita Dennis, mother of Iraq war
veteran/resister; human rights attorney Lynne Stewart, A.N.S.W.E.R. national
coordinator Brian Becker, civil rights attorney Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, Elias Rashmawi, National Council of
Arab Americans; Gloria LaRiva, National Committee to Free the Five:
Peta Lindsay, A.N.S.W.E.R. Youth & Student Coordinator; and many more.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is the national organization that has
organized all of the large-scale antiwar protests in Washington DC since
September 2001, which have cumulatively brought over 1 million people into
the streets of DC. September 24 represented a broad show of unity among
thousands of antiwar and social justice groups in the U.S.

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