Student Organizers Of Antiwar March Apologize For Store Looting

LOS ANGELES -- Student organizers of an antiwar march that led to the looting of a San Fernando Valley convenience store apologized to the owner Wednesday and gave him several gifts.

The six Canoga Park High School students who organized the March 5 protest presented a carnation, sweat shirt and cap bearing the school name to Masood Behroozi, who owns the Mobil gas station and convenience store on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The teenagers didn't participate in the looting.

"What the kids did here, it's not all of Canoga," said Luis Lopez, 16. "We'd like to apologize for that." Behroozi, an Iranian who fled his country with his family in 1985 because of persecution over their Bahai faith, accepted the apology.

"Thank you so much," he said. "Don't blame them. They should change. Not you guys."

Since the protest, Behroozi said he has also been visited by remorseful students who did take part in the store looting. Canoga Park High Principal Dennis Thompson stopped by the gas station to apologize too.

On March 5, about 500 students skipped class to participate in a lunchtime anti-war march that was part of a world protest against U.S. foreign policy on Iraq. A small group broke free and began to loot the gas station convenience store, stealing snack foods and tipping over a display of sunglasses, causing about $500 worth of damage.

Police arrested three students for petty theft.

©Copyright 2003, NBC4.TV (CA, USA)

Following is the URL to the original story. The site may have removed or archived this story. URL: http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2039779/detail.html