USA: A least six demonstrators involved in anti-war and Occupy DC protests are arrested inside a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.

Record ID: 590849

  • Title: USA: A least six demonstrators involved in anti-war and Occupy DC protests are arrested inside a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
  • Date: 12th October 2011
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 11, 2011) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PROTESTERS AT FREEDOM PLAZA WITH THE U.S. CAPITOL IN THE BACKGROUND WIDE OF TENTS AND BANNER "HOW'S THE WAR ECONOMY WORKING FOR YOU?" SIGN THAT SAYS "MAKE ART NOT WAR" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. MARGARET FLOWERS, ORGANIZER OF THE OCTOBER 2011 MOVEMENT, SAYING: "We met with the Park Service and they offered us a four-month extension on the permit, we brought that back to the general assembly, people were very excited that we were offered that amount of time and immediately started getting down to work on how to create the infrastructure that we would like to see and here." PROTESTER MAKING NEW SIGN WIDE OF EMPTY SCENE AT FREEDOM PLAZA
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6BVH0ZZ1XV0SUHXOLAYXJYIS9
  • Story Text: At least six people were arrested on Tuesday (October 11) during a protest in a Senate office building involving anti-war and Occupy DC demonstrators, police and participants said.
    The group of about 100 protesters unfurled upside-down flags -- a symbol of distress -- and ant-iwar banners in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building, which houses senators' personal offices and some committee rooms.
    They chanted "We are the 99 percent" and "Stop the wars" until Capitol police cleared the area, participants and observers said.
    The protest had been planned for months by such anti-war groups as Veterans for Peace and Code Pink to mark the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.
    However, the event drew participants as well from the Occupy DC protest, a local version of the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that have spread nationwide.
    The "99 percent" chant has been a feature of those demonstrations, reflecting the protesters' view that the country's wealthiest one percent have too much and are too powerful.
    Police arrested at least six protesters and charged them with unlawful conduct for demonstrating inside a Capitol building, a police spokeswoman said.
    Over the past weeks, demonstrators from different protests have set up camps at two sites in downtown Washington near the White House.
    In Freedom Plaza, several blocks from the White House, some tents and banners remained intact as the Park Service extended the protesters' occupation permit for another four months.
    "We met with the Park Service and they offered us a four-month extension on the permit, we brought that back to the general assembly, people were very excited that we were offered that amount of time and immediately started getting down to work on how to create the infrastructure that we would like to see and here," protest organizer Dr. Margaret Flowers said.
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