The Associated Press

KENT, Ohio - At least 12 people protesting the U.S. war in Iraq were arrested Sunday when they took their protest from the Kent State University campus to a city street, the university said.

Police warned the several hundred protesters to stay off public roads, but they left the campus and marched down an adjacent city street. It wasn't immediately clear how many of those arrested were students, said university spokesman Ron Kirksey. The police department withheld comment until a statement could be drafted.

As many as 75 police officers began arresting protesters and put them on three city buses waiting to take them to jail.

A state police airplane crew monitored the protest and troopers also helped with roadblocks and traffic detours.

The protesters left campus after the annual commemoration marking the May 4, 1970, shooting deaths of four students by National Guard troops trying to quell a protest against the Vietnam war. Kirksey said the university doesn't welcome any activity that detracts from the May 4 commemoration.