Cindy "Peace Mom" Sheehan, known for protesting the Iraq war, was greeted at St. Xavier University on the Southwest Side of Chicago with protests.
Sheehan was hired by the Catholic university's student activities board to give a speech titled "One person can make a difference, not one more," aimed at getting people involved in the peace movement.
Before her talk, dozens of bikers and blue collar workers gathered outside the field house, in the freezing rain, carrying signs that read: "Support Our Troops."
Sheehan suggested she was going to stay away from politics on this night, telling an audience of more than 300 -- including protesters who stood on the bleachers with their backs to her -- the story of why she became involved in the anti-war effort and how one person can make a difference.
She talked about how her son shared a birthday with John F. Kennedy and died in Iraq on April 4, 2004, the same date Martin Luther King was killed. That's when the protesters in the crowd started heckling her.
When she started reading her daughter's anti-war poem, something that spurred her to the peace movement, about 20 protesters inside the gym walked out, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and screaming at her.
As they left, Sheehan gave them the peace sign. Only a few of the protesters remained in the university gymnasium as she continued.
The speech became an anti-war rally, with members of the crowd cheering as she ticked off reasons why troops should come home and the war should end.
She went on to say: "If you care about the troops, do more than carry a sign or put up a bumper sticker . . . if you support this war and President Bush, march to your recruiter's office and sign up."
Chicago Sun Times
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