ATLANTA -- U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) joined an antiwar march through Atlanta Saturday, adding her voice to calls to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

"Bring the troops home now," McKinney told a large rally at Piedmont Park following the march from the King Center. "Let's make peace and not war."

McKinney declined to comment about an altercation at the U.S. Capitol this week in which she is accused of slapping a police officer. On Friday, she called a news conference and said she was the victim of the incident.

The march and rally were organized by metro Atlanta civil rights groups to mark the 38th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.

Veteran activist Rev. Joseph Lowery told the crowd: "Don't let anybody tell you that just because you're against the war that you don't support the troops. Hell, the best support that you can give the troops is bring them home out of harm's way, not in body bags but home and alive and well."

"I feel like we're in the middle of a civil war," marcher Debra Cahn told WSB-TV. "It's appalling to me that it appears more people have died since the war ended than during the entire war. It's questionable to me why we're there."

Reporters asked McKinney about the incident at the Capitol but she did not comment.

Her lawyer, James Meyer, told reporters on Friday he expects McKinney to be arrested next week for the confrontation.

He blamed the incident on race.

"Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin. Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress while black," said Meyer.

Charges against McKinney could range from assault on a police officer, which is a felony carrying a possible five year prison term, to simple assault, which is a misdemeanor.

The six-term congresswoman apparently struck a Capitol Police officer when he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a metal detector. Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. The officer apparently did not recognize McKinney, she said in a statement. She was not wearing her lapel pin.

Channel Two correspondent Terry Mann contributed to this report.