, March 22 (UPI) -- There were numerous demonstrations worldwide against the war in Iraq Saturday, but one of the largest was in New York City where about 200,000 people marched 30 blocks up Broadway.
"It's an incredible outpouring of people, speaking in one voice to have no war in Iraq," Judith Le Boanc, spokeswoman for United for Peace NYC, told United Press International. "The were teachers, transit workers, students, people wheeling baby carriages who are fearful of our future and we want (President George) Bush to know they are opposed to war in Iraq."
The demonstration, organized by United for Peace and Justice, was sprinkled with actors including Roy Scheider, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, began at Times Square at around noon and was largely peaceful.
The demonstrators were joined by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who told reporters, "We support the troops, but we do not support the president."
People carried signs that said, "Not in Our Name," "Money for Jobs not for War," and labeled a picture of Bush "Lunatic."
There was a confrontation with some of the 2,000 police officers assigned to the protest as the demonstrators ended the march in Washington Square Park.
The New York Police Department said so far there were 74 arrests, mostly disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
"Fourteen police officers were sprayed with some chemical and had to be hospitalized, initially we thought it was mace, but now they're doing a chemical analysis to determine what it was," a spokesman for the NYPD told UPI.
There were no speeches scheduled for the end of the protest, but at the park where the crowd was to have dispersed, dozens were involved in a scuffle with police when they started to burn an American flag.
Police stepped in and the crowd started to chant, "Go fight crime." More people started shoving and throwing things at police and then others joined in.
"We are now going to meet with the groups that oppose the war including labor, religious groups and others to develop plans because we are not going away," Le Boanc said. "This is an illegal war and many are concerned of its costs and the budget cuts that Bush is justifying because of the war -- we must stop the war and have no more Iraqs -- war is not a solution to political problems."
In his hometown of Peekskill, N.Y., New York Gov. George Pataki spoke to several hundred New York National Guard members at Camp Smith saying that once Saddam Hussein was gone, New York will become safer become terrorists would have lost a friend.
"I believe in my heart of hearts that Saddam Hussein is an inspiration for all who engage in terrorist acts in America," he said.
In numerous U.S. cities there were anti-war protests and rallies in support of the troops and Bush. Some of the largest rallies of an estimated 15,000 supporting the troops occurred in Auburn, Ind. and St. Paul, Minn. At a baseball stadium in Millington, Tenn. an estimated 5,000 gathered to support the military.
For a third day, tens of thousands demonstrated in San Francisco, where police promised to clear protesters from blocking traffic.
About 1,000 protesters called for nonviolent civil disobedience at an anti-war demonstration at Westover Air Force Base, in Springfield, Mass.
Several hundred in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House in Washington, DC chanted, "No war for oil." Bush was not at the White House but at Camp David in Maryland.
At the state capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah a funeral for democracy was held where protesters "washed" an American flag, "because our president has desecrated the flag and we will symbolically clean it by washing it in a respectful manner."
In Troy, N.Y., both sides were invited to join the Buddhist Peace Group in a 24-hour meditation for peace beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday at the city YWCA.
