Activists to descend on Dems' convention

DENVER, June 22 (UPI) -- Legions of protesters, frustrated by a mounting list of problems, plan to protest at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

Anarchists, socialists and pacifists are among the thousands of protesters planning to take to city streets, The Denver Post reported Sunday.

"There will be a lot of people at this convention who are progressive and who are angry at the Democrats," said Virginia Trabulsi, who has worked for years with the anti-war group United for Peace and Justice.

Other protesters plan to pull Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers up from Mississippi to draw attention to the continuing post-Hurricane Katrina struggles.

Then there is the Backbone Campaign, which will haul 70-foot-tall political puppets called The Chain Gang: prison-suited images of U.S. President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

A group called The People Call for Change plans to hold a series of events in churches and community centers to offer a hopeful vision of the future.

"The thing that is driving all of us is that we want to reclaim our country, to restore it and make it be a government and a country by and for the people," said Ron Forthofer, who founded the group.