PENNSYLVANIA Protests, parties mark holiday

About 400 people visited the site of the crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pennsylvanians celebrated Independence Day with speeches, picnics, visits to Civil War battlefields or terrorism memorials -- and even by exercising their constitutional right to speak out against the government.
About 4,000 spectators watched a star-studded crowd of celebrities, politicians and Supreme Court Justices unveil the new $185 million National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, widely regarded as the birthplace of American democracy.
Nearby, a small group of Muslims gathered for a call to prayer and a reading of the Bill of Rights, while a massive group of demonstrators assembled in a park and later marched to protest the war with Iraq and the Bush administration.
On Friday night, thousands gathered in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to listen to a free concert and watch a fireworks display.
For many, the holiday stirred memories of the tumultuous last two years, including deadly terrorist attacks and two American-led wars.
In Pittsburgh
At Pittsburgh's Point State Park -- the site of former Forts Duquesne and Pitt -- bricklayer Joseph Cuzzupe questioned whether there was cause to celebrate following the Sept. 11 attacks and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Independence Day, just think about it -- by no means are we independent. We've got wars and terrorism. That's what I think about it," said Cuzzupe, who has eagle tattoos on both forearms.
About 400 people visited the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., about 65 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, where 40 passengers and crew members were killed in a plane hijacked by terrorists Sept. 11, 2001. As usual, many left flowers and flags.
Volunteer Debbie Glessner, 45, said many visitors were sporting red, white and blue clothing.
"A lot of people expressed to me that they thought it was a very fitting day to be out there. There were really strong emotions out there," Glessner said.
The daily tours of battlegrounds in Gettysburg were inundated with a "whole lot more" visitors Friday, said park ranger Becky Lyons, even though a re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg scheduled this week was postponed until next month.
More traditional celebrations were being held Friday in Williamsport, where tens of thousands of people were expected to attend the city's eighth annual fireworks display. A nonprofit corporation in East Stroudsburg was sponsoring a picnic that was to include live music, free food and fireworks.
Independence Township in western Pennsylvania was enjoying its first Fourth of July celebration in recent memory, having obtained a parcel of land for the festivities. Residents in the town of 2,600, about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, turned out for an old-fashioned carnival and planned a parade and fireworks Saturday.
Hampered by weather
The mood was more somber in Meadville, where a planned Fourth of July parade was canceled by rain.
"It is really terrible. My sister was going to be in it. She was going to march in the band," said 5-year-old Julia Nevel.
In Philadelphia, protesters carried signs with messages like "No War for Empire" and "Stop Bush's Wars at Home and Abroad" as they marched through the downtown area.
"Today's a good day to protest because Bush has done more than anyone in quite some time to rip up the Constitution," said Peter Miller, 55, of New York.
Two protesters were arrested after reportedly trying to force their way into the Constitution Center, said Sgt. Roland Lee, a police spokesman.
Members of the Islamic Circle of North America, which is holding a convention in Philadelphia this weekend, distributed pamphlets about Islam and played a call to prayer, after which a woman read the Bill of Rights.
"There's a feeling that Muslims are perceived as people who don't belong, who aren't patriotic, who don't love America," and the organization hopes to change that perception, said secretary general Naeem Baig. He said about 15,000 people are expected to attend the convention.