UPDATED photo gallery: Protestors at City Hall say it ‘isn’t about the Iranian election anymore’

by Sarah Blaskovich

DALLAS — Editor's Note: After this was published, one protester requested her name be taken out of the story. "I just don't know what kind of retaliation I might experience," she said. Thanks to her for sharing her story initially.

Several hundred Dallasites clad in green gathered Tuesday afternoon to protest the results of the recent Iranian election and beg for peace. Protestors draped themselves in the Iranian flag -- which was banned in Iran on Election Day -- and carried gruesome signs remembering Neda, an young woman who died walking to a demonstration in Iran.

Many protesters in Dallas were enraged that ballots were not issued to their Dallas homes, leaving many chanting, "Where's my vote?"

The protest in Dallas was peaceful, said a bike cop circling the perimeter. Cops were scattered around City Hall on bikes and in squad cars, but their biggest confrontation was quieting a few overheated homeless guys. (Overheated both by the issue at hand and by the sweaty sun, we mean.)

One protestor who lived her first 21 years in Tehran, Iran said she and her family members came to protest more than just the “unjust election,” she said, asking not to be named. “I plead the message that the people of Iran hate Ahmadinejad. But this isn't about the election. This is about a regime change … I feel like Iran isn't my country any more.”

The protest included several speakers who encouraged people to embrace freedom and denounce the dictator. John Neddermann, a Southlake resident and American citizen, presented a message of unification: “I was born in America and my ancestors are Dutch and German,” he said. “So what does it matter to me? I want to stand with them. This is a historic time for the Middle East and for these people.”