Gazette-Times

Police forced anti-war protesters at the National Guard Armory to leave the property Sunday afternoon after officials there complained that the crowd had shown up unexpectedly, authorities said.

Sgt. Joel Goodwin of the Corvallis Police Department said National Guard officials were surprised by the protest and became concerned that people might trample plants. Some in the crowd were also writing on concrete walkways with chalk, he said.

Goodwin said that four or five police officers came to the armory and moved the crowd to the sidewalk. There were no arrests.

Shortly before 9 p.m., roughly a dozen protesters were still at the armory. Most sat in lawn chairs on the sidewalk; a few were on the lawn. Some planned to stay all night.

The event was part of a Mother’s Day peace march and vigil that began in Cloverland Park around 1 p.m. and was sponsored by a handful of anti-war groups.

Organizers said the crowd walked to the armory to protest the war in Iraq as well as the military’s recruiting policies.

Along the sidewalk in front of the armory were a few makeshift coffins draped with American flags, as well as boots and shoes honoring the U.S. and Iraqi civilian dead.

Protesters held a large, pink sign reading, “Outraged women say no to war!”

Leah Bolger, who helped organize the protest, said she visited the armory a week ago and told officials about the protest. And Michelle Darr, another organizer, said she had left two voice mails at the Corvallis Police Department about the upcoming event.

But on Sunday, Bolger said, a National Guard official who happened to be driving by spotted the protest and stopped. The official, she said, told the protesters that he was surprised to find the crowd.

“Steam was coming out of his ears,” Bolger said.