18 grandmothers arrested at Iraq war protest

October 17, 2005, 8:18 PM EDT


NEW YORK (AP) _ Eighteen grandmothers were arrested and face charges of disorderly conduct after they showed up at a military recruiting center and said they wanted to enlist, a protest group said.

Police arrested the women, ranging in age from 49 to 90, Monday afternoon after they sat down in front of the Times Square recruiting station to protest the war in Iraq, police said.

When the 18 women, including Marie Runyon, who is 90 and blind, tried to enter the station, they found it locked, said Joan Wile, 74, director of Grandmothers against the War.

"We tried to ring the bell at the booth, but no one answered," Wile said. "I saw a head poke up from behind the counter every once in a while and then duck back down. I don't know what they were afraid of. Maybe they don't know how to deal with a bunch of grannies."

The women were taken into custody after they sat down in front of the recruiting station and began to chant, "We insist, we want to enlist."

Grandmothers against the War joined the New York City Raging Grannies and the Gray Panthers to form a coalition called the Anti-War Grandmothers, which organized the protest in Times Square. The group said that about 100 people attended.

"The police were extremely nice," Wile said. "They helped us up from our sitting position and helped us get in and out of the van, which was difficult with our handcuffs on."