"An estimated 300,000 people took to the streets of New York City on February 15, 2003 to protest the impending U.S. led invasion of Iraq.<br /> <br /> Protests were held worldwide in what turned out to be the largest coordinated ant-war protest in history, with an estimated 6-20 million people demonstrating in 800 cities across the world that day.<br /> <br /> The conception of the mass protest is attributed to several ""anti-globalist"" European organizations, and was taken up swiftly in the United States, most notably by the ""United for Peace and Justice"" organization.  While the most heavily attended protests occurred in Europe (with some 3 million people flocking to the streets of Rome and 1 million in London) protests in the United States were well attended also.  In New York City the day was marked with a heavy police presence as people were penned in by various barricades from block to block, not allowing the vast majority of them to reach the final protest staging area and effectively cutting the huge crowd off from itself.  There were also many reports of police abuse and unnecessary arrests.<br /> <br /> Although the coordination and scope of the protests was unprecedented, the response of the US government was underwhelming and ultimately demoralizing to the movement- on March 20, 2003, the invasion of Iraq began.  From that point, mass protests attracted fewer and fewer people as many felt that their voices were indeed being heard but ultimately ignored."
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