Carrying messages of change and a call to end the Iraq War, several thousand people of all walks of life bore down on the state’s capital Monday on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Chanting “Peace now, peace now,” at the start of the flood of protesters, the people marched through sweltering heat from the Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center and back.

From all angles, protesters were greeted by curious crowds and SWAT team members looking on.

“I’m out here because I want change — I want Obama,” said one protester, Sandra Peterson, of St. Paul. “I just want to be one more person to be against the war and for change.”

Peterson said she had never taken part in a protest before but decided that morning to do so.

“We’re average Americans just wanting a better country,” she said as she walked with a friend.

Though a majority of the protesters walked peacefully by without raising any problems, there were a few bouts of disruption. By the end of the day, more than 50 people were arrested and several were also pepper-sprayed or tear-gassed.

Besides those protesters, most people walked peacefully by, holding signs with phrases such as “Money for human needs not for war,” “Impeach Bush now,” and “McCain votes against veterans,” to name a few.

A group of young men chanted, “Bring us home, we are the troops!” while yet other groups chanted, “Bush and McCain, more of the same” and “Hey, Hey go home. The war in Iraq has got to go.”

Bea Bogusky, one observer of the protest, said she was brought to tears by one man she saw walk by carrying a sign. The sign read: “Bush wounded my son in June of 2008. Please send him home. Please stop the war.”

It touched her, she said, because she has a few sons of her own.

“I agree to end the war,” Bogusky said. “And I’m just happy to be here to watch the democratic process in action.”

Her son, Tom Whitney, from the west side of St. Paul, said he agreed.

“They’ve got a right to protest and say what they want,” he said. “The war should stop. We need to fund education and get people back to work — we do need that. But we don’t need people rallying for welfare.”

Whitney said he was for peace and the for the end of the Iraq War.

Ted and Mary Hinnenkamp, who are involved with the weekly protests in Albert Lea, said they decided last-minute to participate in the event. They missed most of the march, but got to St. Paul for the rally afterward.

Mary noted how many different groups of people were in attendance, each attempting to have their voice heard about their specific concerns.

For her, she said, one of her main concerns is ending the war in Iraq.

“Regardless of if we have less deaths, the cost continues,” she said. “No country is so wealthy to continue that kind of thing.”

She said as a whole she’s always puzzled why more people don’t get involved in speaking out about their concerns because she knows many people are outraged by some of the things going on in the country right now, but are afraid to speak out.

Jovita E. Zamarripa, who watched the march from her apartment at 5 West Seventh Street, said she was impressed with the protest.

“We do need a new president,” Zamarripa said. “I’m hoping Obama.”