Singing songs of peace and waving banners, a DuPage County group took over the Naperville Riverwalk Sunday night with its message of nonviolence.
The DuPage Peace Through Justice Coalition, which was formed nearly a year ago in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, held a candlelight vigil to protest the United States' acts of war against Afghanistan and, most recently, Iraq.
The vigil was planned in solidarity with a national group of families of Sept. 11 victims, who are speaking out against violence across the nation this week.
In Naperville, nearly 100 people showed up to walk along the Riverwalk, singing songs like "We Believe in Peace" and "Down By the Riverside."
Holding signs that read "No to Terrorism and No to War!" and "We Mourn the Dead ... We Call for Peace," the group moved its protest from the Riverwalk to the Barnes & Noble bookstore, where it tried to attract the attention of passing cars.
"We want to say to those in power, 'We will not permit you to pervert our grief into a call for war,'æ" said Kevin Lindeman of Winfield, who spoke at the vigil.
Some people came from across the suburbs to express their displeasure with what they call the United States' overly violent foreign policy.
A group of women from LaGrange Park showed up because they are strongly against President Bush leading this country in a war against Iraq, especially without the support of the United Nations.
"We're really concerned that he's just trying to finish daddy's war," said Cynthia Lee.
Nancy Hites of the Church of the Brethren in Naperville said she came to the vigil primarily because she wants to support any group that calls for peace. She, too, hopes the United States doesn't take the offensive against Iraq.
"I think we would be unleashing a lot more problems than we have now," she said.