Logan peace vigil celebrates one year
Holding up hand-made signs with slogans such as, “Impeach the Tyrant” and “Power to the Peaceful,” about 45 people stood at the curb of Logan’s Main Street Friday as part of a peace vigil that has occurred every week for the past year.
As few as one person and as many as 45 have taken part from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Friday in front of the Logan Tabernacle to protest the Iraq war and be a “visual support for peace in the Logan area,” said USU graduate student Rachel Carroll-Larson, who started the protests in September 2005. “There’s been someone every week. We’ve had some cold days.”
One of the main reasons for the vigil is to let people know that there are people who are concerned about the war and support peace, said Jordan Carroll-Larson, a regular participant. “We’re here to make the community feel that there is a voice for this perspective and that this perspective is growing. This is about civil rights and participation.”
USU economics professor Arthur Caplan, who was present Friday, said the group stands with their signs to show that there are “pockets of dissent” among locals. “It happens person by person, tipping people over the edge to act on their disaste for the war. If we can influence one or two people, that’s a victory.”
The public response to the vigil has been mostly positive, Rachel Carroll-Larson said. “We do feel that the majority of the people driving by or walking by have given us a positive reaction, but we definitely have those who disagree, and we’re very much OK with that.”
Most of those who have confronted the protestors have had minor arguments and moved on, with one exception.
“There was one guy who took at swing at me with his fist. He missed and broke my sign,” said Jordan Carroll-Larson, noting the police were called to handle the incident.
Logan High School students Alia Peragallo and Maria Keller have been attending the protest ever since it began because they feel it’s important to educate the public. “People are dying. There’s no reason people should be dying when there are other solutions,” Peragallo said.
No one is certain how long the weekly protest will continue, Rachel Carroll-Larson said.
“We have no deadlines and no finish dates. I think that many people who participate are very much motivated by the Iraq war, and I believe that it might be strong possiblity that we might agree to end if the Iraq war was to end,” she said. “But I also think there are many of us who support peace in the world in so many ways, so I think there’s a possibility we could continue.”
Accented by occasional honks or shouts from passing cars, several protesters keep up a constant beating on drums, while others stand holding signs for passing motorists to see. A camera crew was on hand Friday in order to film the event for a documentary about the cross-state walk that Iraq war veteran Marshall Thompson plans to make in protest of the war.
The peace vigil is organized by Cache Valley Peace Works, which formed after the first peace vigil held on Main Street last year.