DENVER -- More than 500 anti-war protesters marched through downtown Sunday en route to the Pepsi Center where the Democratic National Convention is set to open Monday.

The march began after the group heard more than two hours of speeches from activists such as Cindy Sheehan.

As they left the Capitol and headed toward the convention site some chanted, "Stop the torture, stop the war. That's what we're fighting for."

Some held a large banner that read "No War On Iran, " and signs that read "Let's Stop U.S. Terrorism Too."

Police officers in riot gear patrolled on bicycles and foot and stood in small groups along a pedestrian mall downtown as the march got under way. There were no reports of unrest.

Sheehan told the crowd that little has changed since her monthlong war protest outside President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in 2005.

"Now three years later, our country is still mired in the Middle East. We're talking about more war, more cold war, and Russia and Georgia, and invading Iran and Pakistan," she said.

The four-day Democratic convention, which starts Monday, has drawn thousands of people to Denver. The Sunday march was the first of at least five protests planned this week by the group Recreate '68.

Sheehan, whose son was killed in the Iraq war, went to Crawford during Bush's August 2005 vacation and demanded to talk to him about the conflict. The protest drew more than 10,000 people, many of whom camped along the two-lane road leading to the ranch.

Nearby, about 50 counter-demonstraters, including military families, waved American flags, sang the National Anthem and hoisted signs praising GOP candidate John McCain and Gen. David Patraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. One sign portrayed a soldier and the words, "Want peace? Shut up and let us do our job."

Another sign read, "Al-Qaida sympathizers over there. Troop supporters here."

Nancy Hecker held a sign with a picture of Petraeus. She and her husband moved to Colorado Springs to be with their four grandchildren after her son, Maj. Bill Hecker, died in Iraq in January 2006.

"I'm here to honor our son and the sacrifice he made for our country and to support the troops and the families who give so much," Hecker said.

Although Hecker supports McCain for president, she said Sunday's event wasn't about politics.

Another sign had an arrow pointing to the war protesters with the words "Al-Qaida Fan Club."

"I don't get why they don't understand," said 23-year-old Michael Haynes of Fort Collins, who said he served two tours in Iraq with the Marines.

Among the protesters at Sunday's rally in Denver was Nancy Minshall, who lived in Chicago in 1968. She said she doesn't expect the protests planned in Denver to compare the riots in Chicago 40 years ago because there's more tolerance for free speech today.

"It was outrageous," said Minshall, who wore a polo shirt with a peace sign. "It was a situation that just grew worse, kind of like Kent State."

National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war protesters at Ohio's Kent State University on May 4, 1970, killing four students and wounding nine.