A group of protesters met at Espresso Royale Caffe on Monday afternoon to discuss possible plans of action to demonstrate their disapproval of U.S. involvement in Haiti.
The small group consisted of MSU students, alumni and one Western Michigan University student.
Ben Burgis, a graduate student at Western Michigan, who organized the event, said this was the first step to staging large-scale protests in the coming months.
"The U.S. pretends it really cares about people, but we won't even let the Haitians into our country for refuge," Burgis said.
U.S. military forces are in Haiti after the country's leader, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile over the weekend.
Linguistics sophomore George Moyer said he is concerned with the United States interfering in Haiti's problems.
"There is something to be said about the undemocratic way this happened," Moyer said. "We just opened the newspaper and saw we had troops in Haiti and we had escorted their president out of power."
The group then walked down Grand River Avenue to the Marine Corps Recruiting Station, 507 1/2 East Grand River Ave., and lay on the wet sidewalk.
Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Lustri, who works at the recruitment center, said the protest didn't bother him.
"That right is what makes our country great. People can have different ideas and opinions," he said.
Lustri said the decision to occupy Haiti was not made by Marine officers.
"It would be more appropriate if they didn't protest people that are just following orders," he said.
Although only six people met on Monday, they said they still were intent on making a statement.
"I think it would be good to do something today, even if it's something minor like lying on the sidewalk in front of the Marine station," said Burgis.
After a few minutes of no response, protesters changed tactics.
The group then lit a Marines poster on fire as a symbol of their disapproval. A few cars honked in response.
One man passing by yelled that he was offended by the act, threatened to call police, and the group scattered.
International relations senior Maggie Ryan, who attended the protest, said the group should have made signs so it could be more visible.
"I'm concerned about the situation. I wanted to know what's happening," she said. "Protests are the best places to learn what's going on."
