ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A protest near the site of the Republican National Convention gave way to violence Monday as demonstrators attacked members of the Connecticut delegation, smashed windows, slashed car tires and threw bottles during an anti-war march, St. Paul police said.

Up to 256 people were arrested by police using pepper spray in some confrontations, police told FOX News. Police were determining on a case-by-case basis how to process them.

Five people were accused of setting fire to a trash bin and pushing it into a police car, St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said.

The violent demonstrators were mostly dressed in black and described themselves as anarchists. Most of the violence occurred in pockets of a neighborhood near downtown, several blocks from the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention was taking place. At the request of police, 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers helped control splinter groups near downtown long after anti-war marchers had dispersed.

Protesters attacked members of the Connecticut delegation when they got off their buses near Xcel Center, delegates told FOX News.com and a local TV station.

A group of protesters came toward the delegation and tried to rip the credentials off their necks and sprayed them with a toxic substance that burned their eyes and stained their clothes, delegate Rob Simmons told KMSP-TV.

One 80-year-old member of the delegation had to be treated for injuries, and several other delegates had to rinse their eyes and clothing, the station reported.

"These knuckle-heads crossed the line," Christopher Healy, head of the Connecticut State Republican Party, told FOX News.com. "We're for free speech, not free bleach. We respect their right to protest, but do it civilly. Pushing, shoving, spitting, throwing harmful chemicals -- it's not the American way."

The Maryland Republican delegation was also greeted by a bold protester who stormed onto its charter bus shouting as they returned from a trip to the circus Monday afternoon.

Delegate Arne Schoeller Jr. said that on the way back to Xcel Center, his bus driver was talking to St. Paul Police when a protester boarded the bus uninvited.

"There were protesters laying on the ground, giving us the finger," Schoeller, of Baltimore, said. "One got on the bus and 'thanked' us profanely, saying 'Thank you for (expletive) up this country' or something along those lines."

Earlier in the first day of the Republican convention, nearly 10,000 veterans and protesters marched peacefully through the streets of St. Paul to the state Capitol.

They chanted anti-war slogans as a helicopter hovered over them and police stood guard in riot gear.

"Hey, hey. Ho, ho. The war in Iraq has got to go," they chanted.

"One, two, three, four. We don't want your racist war," another chant went. "Five, six, seven eight. We will not cooperate."

"Get up. Get down. There's an anti-war march in this town."

The rally was organized by the Coalition to March Against the RNC and Stop the War. The protesting groups included Iraq Veterans Against the War, Women for Peace, the American Indian Movement, Latinos Against War and the Teamsters union.

"We're very excited to have such a diversity of people participating in our demonstration," coalition member Katrina Plotz said, adding that the rally will "send a clear anti-war message to the Republicans and the world."

Organizers anticipated 50,000 protesters but police estimated 8,000 to 10,000.

Demonstrators blamed Republicans and the Bush administration for paying more attention to war than to domestic issues.

"The demonstration will be voicing opposition to the war's prioritization above human needs, such as building levees, the economy and health care," Meredith Aby, a coalition member said.

Protesters carried American flags and signs saying, "Who Would Jesus torture?" and "Build Bridges, Not Bombs."

Up to 200 people from a group called Funk the War nosily staged their own march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some of their members smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over newspaper boxes, pulled a big trash bin into the street, bent the rearview mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks.

One member of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The group chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!"

At one point, people pushed a trash bin filled with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour signs. One of them used a screwdriver to puncture the back tire of a limousine waiting at an intersection and threw a wooden board at the vehicle, denting its side. Another hurled a glass bottle at a charter bus that had stopped at an intersection. The bottle smashed into pieces but did not appear to damage the bus.

Once protesters arrived at the state Capitol for the peace rally, political spectacles abound.

One protester danced to a satirical song, "Insane in the McCain Brain," that parodied the popular 1990s rap hit, "Insane in the Membrane." The dancing protester wore a mask of John McCain with a baseball cap turned sideways and a dollar sign medallion hanging from a gold chain.

The song's chorus blared from a speaker: "One hundred years in Iraq."

On his second song, the dancer was joined by a fellow protester wearing a President Bush mask. They changed into Hawaiian shirts to dance to "Bomb Iran," mimicking McCain's own satirical take during the primaries on the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann."

Among the protesters were Carlos and Meliva Arredondo, whose son, Alexander Arredondo, a U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq in 2004. The Arredondos pushed a mock casket draped in an American flag to honor the memory of their son.

"One of the reasons why we are here as well is the Republican Party has often stated that they're continuing the wars, especially the war in Iraq, as a way of honoring the troops," she said, calling that stupid logic. "Alexander did not die to be part of a presidential platform."

Some onlookers were displeased by the march. Former U.S. Marine Bryan Haglund, who served in Iraq in 2005, 2006 and 2007, said the march "sickened" him.

Others were supportive.

"That's what this country is about: freedom of speech," Janet Lowe said.

After the official march ended, police spent hours dispersing smaller groups of protesters, employing officers on horses, smoke bombs and tear gas.

Protesters put eye drops in each other's eyes after police used chemical irritants such as pepper spray and tear gas. Some wore bandanas and masks to protect themselves.

Protesters were seen lying on an interstate exit ramp to block traffic in the downtown area and linking arms to block other roads.

On the weekend, authorities seized weapons and devices from a self-described anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee, which was not among the organizers of the march. The devices were designed to disable buses, the sheriff's office said. Five people from that group were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property, the sheriff's office said.

By Stephen Clark
www.foxnews.com