GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A small crowd of protesters gathered in downtown Grand Rapids Saturday afternoon to protest against war in the Middle East.
Thousands of troops were deployed this week after President Donald Trump directed the U.S. military to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force. Trump said Friday that the United States killed the general in an airstrike "to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."
The protest was held in the heart of Grand Rapids, on the corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue. About 50 people participated, holding signs that read, "No war on Iran. US out of Iraq & the Middle East."
While there have been no formal declarations of war, which would require congressional approval, the U.S. is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the region. Those are in addition to about 700 soldiers who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters.
A Facebook event for the protest in Grand Rapids said, "We need to get in the streets to say no to Trump and the war makers of both parties. Trump's efforts to start another war in the Middle East must be stopped."
Similar rallies were held in cities across the country, like Chicago, New York, Cleveland and Washington D.C. Hundreds of demonstrators in the nation's capital were joined by Jane Fonda, and the group took the protest to the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Protests were also happening in Iran on Saturday, as the nation held a funeral for Soleimani. The protesters chanted "America is the Great Satan." Since the airstrike, which also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi deputy commander, Iran has vowed "harsh retaliation."
The reaction from West Michigan lawmakers has been mixed, with Republican congressmen Bill Huizenga, Fred Upton and John Moolenaar supporting the president's decision. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Grand Rapids) said the U.S. government needs "consent for war from the people" by going through Congress.
The president increasing troops in the Middle East, however, is allowed under the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was enacted in response to the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks.
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