1,200 Activists Hold Peace Vigil to Protest Defense Gathering

An estimated 1,200 peace activists of all ages, bearing candles, placards with anti-nuclear slogans and torn umbrellas, surrounded the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel Tuesday night to protest an annual gathering of military and defense industry specialists.

The vigil, which ended after about two hours with no arrests, was planned to protest the 27th annual Winter Convention of Aerospace and Electronic Systems (Wincon), whose 300 participants are staying at the Costa Mesa hotel and meeting at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Proceedings Classified

The convention, whose proceedings are closed to the public and highly classified, is expected to focus on the future course of the nation’s defense industry, with particular attention on President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, or so-called “Star Wars” program.

The 20 to 30 “leaky umbrellas” brandished by protesters “symbolize the SDI program, that it won’t work,” said Sam Robinson, 19, president of the Alliance for Survival chapter at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Robinson, along with seven fellow students and a faculty adviser, arrived early for the 7 p.m. protest and spent the spare time assembling their signs and organizing their entourage in the parking lot of South Coast Plaza, as shoppers stared from open car windows.

“We’re really concerned about the nuclear issues of today,” said Robinson, as the hastily printed “Stop Wincon” sign taped to his chest rustled in the warm evening breeze. “It’s the most important issue. It affects not only our lives but future generations. We’re the students. If we don’t stop it, who will?”

Placards ranged from the sincere--”You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war”--to the absurd--”Liquidate KGB Thugs.” The demonstrators also ran a gamut. A small band of kazoo players, one wrapped in an American flag, played the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Vanessa Ryder, 8, of Irvine tried to keep her candle lit as her mother gently prompted her about why she was allowed to stay up so late on a school night. “I forgot, Mama.” “You’ll remember if you think about it.” Pause. “I’m here to fight weapons so we can’t have ‘em anymore.”

As the protesters milled along Bristol Street and Anton Boulevard, a small group of counter-demonstrators formed nearby, waving American flags and banners reading, “Jesus saves us sinners from hell.”

“Read your Bible,” one man shouted through a bullhorn emblazoned with the word God . “Nuclear war is nothing to fear. Fear God. You don’t know the difference between Groucho Marx and Karl Marx. The next thing you’ll be telling me is you’re against Reagan . . . and you think (deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E.) Marcos is a bad man.”

Numbers Growing

All Wincon events have been held in Southern California, the last four in Orange County. According to conference organizers, the event has drawn protests only in recent years. But the peace demonstrations have grown in numbers. A candlelight vigil at Wincon ’85 drew an estimated 1,400 protesters, while 500 demonstrated at a similar event in 1984.

Although Costa Mesa police spokesmen estimated 1,200 protesters were present Tuesday, Marion Pack, director of Alliance for Survival, one of the protest organizing groups, estimated the crowd at 1,700 to 2,000.

“The goal was to top last year’s 1,400, and we’ve already done that,” Pack said at 8 p.m. “This is a complete success.”

The peace activists say they will picket the hotel this morning and Thursday morning in an attempt to block the buses taking the Wincon participants to El Toro. Between 15 and 18 Costa Mesa police officers were to be stationed at the Westin this morning to control counterdemonstrations and arrest anyone committing civil disobedience, a police spokesman said.

Between 10 and 15 officers are scheduled to be on hand Thursday morning. Ten demonstrators at last year’s conference were convicted in Harbor Municipal Court this month on misdemeanor charges of blocking a public roadway.

To Doris Kling, who described herself as “65 plus” and a “first timer,” the demonstration was a chance to show that “I’m against war because it’s fomented by ammunition makers who want to make more money. I think we have to wake up. It’s a question of economic imperialism.”

The soft-spoken woman paused, clutching her unlit candles. “I hope I haven’t said too much.”