Watch a video of Wednesday's protest at sacbee.com.

SAN FRANCISCO — With just hours to go before torch runners were to begin their six-mile trek through San Francisco, thousands of protesters were gathering outside the San Francisco Ferry Building and were lining the Embarcadero, drawing attention to an array of causes — from freeing Tibet to ending the war in Darfur. It was a colorful scene.

Scott Fia, a sophomore from the University of California-Los Angeles, traveled to San Francisco early Wednesday morning to join the protest. He said he wants to draw attention to China's role in buying oil from the Sudanese government. Those oil revenues, he said, fund the Janjaweed Militia, that have allegedly been carrying out attacks in Darfur.

"The Olympics are a celebration of peace and brotherhood among nations," Fia said. "It seems kinda silly for us to allow a country with such a bad human rights record to bask in that glory."

San Francisco is the only North American stop for the torch on its 85,000-mile route from Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Read the full story at sacbee.com.