SALT LAKE CITY -- Thousands of demonstrators gathered at City Hall on Wednesday in protest of President Bush's policies -- one day before he speaks to the American Legion's national convention here.

Led by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, protesters marched from City Hall to the federal building to present a symbolic indictment against Bush, Congress and the president's administration, alleging such "crimes" as failure to uphold the Constitution, abuse of power and failure to promote the general welfare of Americans.

"Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence, the cruelty, the incompetence and the inhumanity of the Bush administration and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government," Anderson said.

The protests came a day after two senior members of the Republican administration, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, addressed Legionnaires here.Rumsfeld likened critics of the U.S. war strategy to those who tried to appease the Nazis.

Rumsfeld and Rice both emphasized that America is safer because it is fighting terrorists in Iraq rather than at home as the nation approaches the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Most of Anderson's 35-minute speech focused on criticizing the Bush administration for its initial invasion of Iraq and did not address what the administration's current policy should be, only insisting that Bush begin telling the truth.

The crowd frequently chanted "Rocky" as it held posters that said among other things: "Iraq: Another Vietnam", "Stop Israeli Terrorism" and "We protest because we're patriotic."

Anderson and protest organizers had come under fire from Republicans for protesting during Bush's visit, with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, apologizing to the Legion for the protests. The state Republican Party also ran radio advertisements encouraging Utah residents to leave messages with the mayor expressing their displeasure.

"A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, warmongering, human-rights violating president," said Anderson.

Many protesters also called Bush a racist and advocated that the country abandon capitalism in favor of socialism.

But the focus was on the war in Iraq.

Carl Brown, 60, held a sign saying "Army veterans against the war."

"People who oppose the war and are demonstrating shouldn't be looked down on as weirdos and wackos and unpatriotic," Brown said. The certified public accountant said he thinks troops should gradually come home over the next six months to a year.

As throngs of protesters marched down State Street, the main thoroughfare through the Salt Lake valley, many cars honked their horns in support and crowds gathered on sidewalks to cheer the protesters on.

But Kim Watson of West Jordan followed protesters with a bull horn saying Anderson is a liar and that America is doing the right thing in Iraq.

"It's about protecting our way of life for future generations so my kid doesn't have to worry about going into a Pizza Hut one day and worry about being blown up like they do in Israel," she said.

Several blocks away at Salt Lake City's Liberty Park, a "Freedom Rally" was held. There, the crowd numbering in the hundreds, many of them Legionnaires, were rallying in support of U.S. troops.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff spoke to those gathered, saying he felt he had to speak out against what Anderson was doing blocks away at the anti-war protest.

Shurtleff said it was disrespectful for Anderson to be speaking out against the war on the same day a Marine from Salt Lake was being buried. A funeral was Wednesday for Cpl. Adam A. Galvez, 21, who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 20.

"Your right to raise your fist in protest stops at the mahogany casket (of Galvez)," Shurtleff said. "Rocky, your protests in search of national recognition will leave you destitute and hungry."

Wednesday's day of protest included a total of six permitted rallies in the city. Most gatherings were designed to express support for American troops or opposition the Iraq war.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.