Students, others protest in Contra Costa

Small war protests broke out around Contra Costa County on Thursday,
from a peaceful evening vigil in Lafayette to two men who blocked a busy
Concord intersection and were cited by police.

High school students walked out of classes at a number of schools,
including some who marched on Walnut Creek City Hall and others who
staged a "die-in" in Martinez.

Not all the demonstrations were against the war. Clayton officials began
flying American flags this week as a show of support for local men and
women in the military.

Starting at 7 a.m., 15 to 20 students at Martinez's Alhambra High School
staged a "die-in" outside classrooms to protest the war, sophomore Ryan
Dietz said.

The students, dressed in black, lay silently in the grass with fake blood on
them to represent the war's expected casualties. Other students portrayed
mourners.

Later in the afternoon, a two-man protest blocked traffic in Concord for half
an hour at a busy downtown intersection adjacent to Todos Santos Plaza.

Carrying anti-war signs, Matthew Meadows and Salvatore Minutoli lay
down on the pavement at Willow Pass Road and Grant Street from 1:50 to
2:20 p.m., when police arrested them for unlawful assembly.

The men did not fight police but ignored commands to leave, said Concord
police Sgt. Russ Norris. One man got up when arrested, and the other was
carried away by officers. The two men were cited and released.

Students from several high schools protested in front of Walnut Creek City
Hall, prompting police to step up security at the building. Shortly after the
1:30 p.m. protest, officers started requiring people entering City Hall to
show identification, state their business and sign in, said Susan Garcia,
police manager. People and their belongings were subject to search.

The extra security measures were partly intended to protect City Hall
workers from civil disorder, Garcia said. They were aimed as well at
thwarting terrorists, though police know of no such threat, she said.

"This shouldn't alarm anyone," Garcia said. "It's just precautionary and
might result in a little bit of a delay. ... We need to be prepared for anything
that could possibly occur."

In the evening, about 70 protesters gathered at the corners of Lafayette's
largest intersection. Parents, grandparents and small children held flags and
waved signs protesting the war and pleading for peace.

"People just come, people who wanted to respond, not just honk," said
Marti Roach, one of the peace group's founders. "They want to stand for this
at a difficult time. I think a lot of people on this corner are feeling very
patriotic."