Lansing Township - Chained to a wheel of a Ford Topaz with a "No War" message spray-painted across its doors, Amy Field sat chanting "They shall go to hell!"
"Hopefully, this is the beginning of a worldwide revolution," the East Lansing resident said, amid a throng of more than 30 colorfully dressed anti-war demonstrators carrying black banners and shouting against the roar of Wednesday's rush-hour traffic rolling past the Frandor Shell station on East Saginaw Street.
"This might motivate people to step up and take their responsibility as American citizens."
The protesters - made up of several groups, including Direct Action and People for Positive Social Change - assembled at the gas station to express their opposition against the war and its possible connections to foreign oil purchases.
"We're protesting to save lives," Field said, sitting next to a cardboard sign stating, "Don't Kill Me For A Fill-Up."
Tensions escalated as the sun went down. Protesters formed human chains at each entrance to prevent cars from entering and purchasing gas.
Human biology junior David Mitchell and several others were nearly run over by three vehicles.
"The inconvenience given to people not being able to get gas here is far outweighed by the inconveniences for people in Iraq," Mitchell said. "We're using our responsibility to speak out and show there is a voice within America saying war is not how we want to treat people."
More than a few were upset by the protesters' tactics.
"This is the U.S. We have the right to get gas!" one angry woman cried after being blocked by protesters for more than 15 minutes.
Passengers in a car shouted, "Go home, hippies," as they drove past the gas station entrance.
Williamston resident Jim Murray shouted at the protesters and managed to break through one of the barricades.
"They must be breaking some sort of trespassing laws," he said. "They have a right to protest, but they cross the line when they impede on a person's right to commerce."
Several Lansing Township Police officers arrived at the scene an hour after the protest began. Protesters were eventually forced to leave an entrance open or face arrest.
Penny Lynn, an employee at the Rite-Aid across the street from the gas station, shook her head in disbelief at the ensuing mayhem.
"They have a right to protest, but they're going about it the wrong way," she said.
Field said she would continue protesting to make sure the community know her feelings.
"I'm not leaving until I get arrested or I have to go to the hospital," she said.
Protesters stood at all four entrances of the Frandor Shell station, drumming on buckets proclaiming messages such as "No War" and "Our voices shall be heard."
Several held a black-and-red fabric banner with the message, "Stop The War - Fight The System" emblazoned across the front.
Melissa Wright proudly thrust her spray-painted "Drop Bush Not Bombs" sign high in the bitterly cold evening wind as the chanting picked up pace and cars began honking at her fellow protesters at the gas station entrance.
"This might be the start of World War III," the Lansing Community College student said. "I'm exercising my freedom of speech and my right to peaceably assemble.
"It's my right to be heard, regardless of what President Bush says."
Kathie Kuhn, a People for Positive Social Change member and one of the protest's organizers, held up a sign declaring "Pre-emptive strikes are murder," with several skulls perched beneath the crimson words.
"We're here in support of protesting, and raising awareness of the blood-thirsty military industrial complex that runs off of oil," she said. "We are a majority. There is just no neutral ground at this time when the government is threatening to massacre innocent people."
Interdisciplinary humanities junior Sarah McDonald said any protest or rally should be an integral part of a college student's lifestyle.
"There is apathy on campus," she said. "We get caught up in our own bubble, but there is a lot more going on. We're supporting peace for the whole world."
