Demonstrators marched their way to the Capitol for further demonstration after the “Books Not Bombs” rally on Bascom Hill Wednesday.
A few hundred protestors camped out the front of the governor’s office and the rotunda in the Capitol in an effort to voice their dissatisfaction with proposed U.S. military action in Iraq.
The group that organized the action, the Pro-Peace Project, described the action as a “teach-in,” but when demonstrators arrived at the Capitol, the scene took the tone of a political protest. Group members banged on the five-gallon buckets and chanted on megaphones.
“The message is put money into the socially empowering institutions of a democracy and not the violently constraining institutions of fear and militarism,” UW senior and protester Tony Shultz said.
“I’m thinking this is a beautiful movement,” UW-Whitewater sophomore Adam Olson said. “This should happen more often because tragedies like this take a lot of lives.”
Matt Nichter, a UW graduate student and sociology teaching assistant, helped organize the event.
“We’re concerned that the U.S. is about to wage a barbaric war with countless civilian casualties; meanwhile, they’re telling us we need to tighten our belts and accept wage freezes and tuition increases, and we want to change their priorities,” Nichter said. “There is always money for war, but not enough for decent health insurance and fair wages.”
Protestors said their demonstration is symbolically important.
“I think we sent that message to legislators,” said Nichter. “I think people are definitely going to see [the demonstration],” Shultz said. “We’re letting the state legislators know we’re not apathetic about our education.”
Craig Myrbo, a Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development employee and UW alum, was at the event, protesting state employee contract issue.
“I was doing the same thing when I started with the state, against the Vietnam War in 1971,” Myrbo said.
Although the event’s turnout wasn’t nearly as large as the rally on Bascom Hill Wednesday morning, organizers said they were pleased with the response.
“[The turnout] was pretty significant,” Shultz said. “We could’ve had more university students.”
Nichter said protestors have genuine reasons for demonstrating.
“We have some work ahead of us to get more UW students involved,” Nichter said. “They take class-work seriously. It was worth it for them to take a day off and send a message to the government.”
