The four members of Catholic Worker, a social justice organization, were acquitted of conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States, said group spokesman Tarik Abdelazim. They also were convicted of entering a military recruiting station for unlawful purposes.

The defendants — Daniel Burns, 45; Peter DeMott, 58; and sisters Teresa Grady, 39; and Clare Grady, 46 — splattered their blood on the windows and walls, posters, pictures and an American flag at an Army and Marine Corps recruiting station near Ithaca, about 65 miles south of Syracuse.

The Ithaca residents were arrested March 17, 2003. Dubbed "the St. Patrick's Four," the group said that under international law they were not guilty of a crime, and compared their actions to those of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony.

"That blood was already on the flag," Clare Grady testified. "We just made it visible."

A previous trial in Tompkins County Court ended when the jury deadlocked. The U.S. District Court jury deliberated about eight hours over two days.