NORFOLK, Va. — Dozens of anti-war protesters gathered at Town Point Park on Saturday night.
They didn't show up empty handed. Many came with signs and instruments after seeing a Facebook event called 'No War With Iran'.
"Killing is wrong," said protester Scott Harris. "Often times the reasons we get into war are not good enough reasons."
The protest was organized by activist groups like Tidewater Solidarity Collective and Tidewater Food not Bombs. They posted the event a day after a United States air strike killed Iran's military leader.
"We are all here to say essentially to Donald Trump that it is not his prerogative to get us involved in war if we don't have any kind of say in that," said Logan Kenison, Chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Old Dominion University.
The group wanted to make noise. They took the protest down Granby Street and even past the MacArthur Center.The sight drew attention from people nearby.
We spoke with a few military members off camera. One said he didn't want a war either, but that there are enemies overseas that can't be reasoned with. Others commented they have no choice either way.
Saturday deployments continued from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. Over the next few days the Department of Defense said they expect to have 3,500 soldiers in the Middle East.
As tensions rise, many local protesters said they just want a choice.
"As a citizen, I want to make the stance if we are going to go into something, we would like to know," Harris said. "We would like to also feel we've had some input. Like we actually had some say as to how this was done."
