Amid throngs of anti-Bush protesters at Thursday's inaugural events, small groups of conservative counter-protesters held signs and talked to passers-by to show their support for the president.
The counter-protesters ranged from anti-abortion activists to Christian evangelicals and from Vietnam veterans to college students. They voiced their opinions in a number of ways - some through intense arguments, others by silently holding posters printed with their message.
D Street, just north of the Capitol and the inaugural parade route, was a popular area for protesters. Two men carrying signs that read "Support Four More Years for President Bush" and "Trust in Jesus" stood talking to pedestrians.
One group called Protest Warrior, held aloft signs that read "Peace Through Superior Firepower" and "Liberate Cuba" with the group's Web site on the bottom. Several people stopped to congratulate and thank one of the men, who did not want to be identified, for supporting Bush. Others stopped to discuss their opinions.
Kara Peters, an AU freshman, stopped to debate one counter-protester. What followed was a heated discussion of the role of religion in the United States, in which the counter-protester stated that "like it or not, there is and should be established religion in this country."
"On one hand it was interesting to meet someone with a point of view so completely different from my own," Peters said. "On the other hand, his argument was disturbing. He completely ignored one half of the equation. What about all the people who aren't Christians?"
Around 1:30 p.m., protesters from both sides of the political spectrum converged at the security checkpoint on the corner of 7th and D streets. Anti-Bush protesters waved signs and chanted slogans into megaphones, prompting a largely pro-Bush crowd of pedestrians to begin chanting "Four more years" back at them.
Jim, a Vietnam War veteran who declined to give his last name, stood across from a group of anti-Bush protesters and held up a sign saying he supported Bush's policies. Jim said that although he was unable to hear the president's speech, he wanted to show his support and make a statement to the other protesters.
"It's exactly what I expected," he said, speaking about the behavior of the anti-Bush protesters. "It's a bunch of anarchists and thugs of the liberal left."
Jim said he supports Bush because of his policies on terrorism.
"The war on terror is going as well as can be expected. [It's] important over the long term," he said. "To me, this is equivalent to what we were able to do with Adolf Hitler."
At one point, minutes before the presidential motorcade went by, protesters in a designated "protest zone" were able to dismantle the protective barrier police erected to ensure crowd control. As hundreds of protesters and dozens of counter-protesters watched, one protester escaped through the fence and ran toward the motorcade but was subdued by a plainclothes police officer.
Later, in one of several security bottlenecks along Pennsylvania Avenue, an Iraq war veteran and a protester got into a heated argument about American foreign policy. The argument ended when the veteran asserted that the protester had no right to talk about Iraq because he hadn't been there.
Beyond that scene, crowds made roads and sidewalks impassable, and police did eventually have to close several checkpoints after protesters broke down protective barriers.
Eagle Staff Writer David Hodges contributed to this story.
