April 5th Die-in at Nollen Plaza

Photos by Ed Canade

One of the largest statewide anti-Iraq war protests took place in Des Moines on April 5, 2003. Over four hundred people attended a two-hour protest rally that featured music and speakers. The protest was organized by Dranke Mobilization for Peace and Justice which is a Drake University student anti-war organization. At least half of the crowd were college students from several Iowa colleges. The protest ended with Fr. Frank Cordaro inviting the crowd to join in a group "die-in." The visual effect of a four-hundred-person die-in helped dramatize and reveal where the truth of any war lies, for that truth always lies with its victims.