Friday, December 17, 2010

131 veterans and others arrested December 16 in front of the White House/Eleven Arrested in Times Square Antiwar Action

131 Veterans and others were arrested December 16 in front of the White House.

http://www.stopthesewars.org/?p=366

 

Nine min video of arrest of 131 Vets and friends at White House

http://warisacrime.org/

 

After a 10 am rally in Lafeyette Park featuring Daniel Ellsberg of

Pentagon Papers fame, retired CIA officer Ray McGovern, Dr. Margaret

Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program, and others,

activists formed a solemn single-file process to the White House,

silent except for a drum beat. There, they encountered police

barricades. Some veterans began climbing over the barricades, until

the police opened them up, allowing people to approach the fence in

front of the White House.

 

As the light snow increased to heavy and began accumulating, activists

kept warm by singing and chanting. At about 12:30, police began

arresting protesters who remained along the fence, while supporters

who did not want to risk arrest were moved across the broad street.

Some of the demonstrators stood in the snow and freezing temperatures

for nearly four hours before being taken to Anacostia processing

center and released. They have all since been released. Some have

elected to pay a fine, while others, including Ellsberg and McGovern,

will go to trial on the charge of disobeying a lawful order.

 

Link to photos from White House demo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ellen.rachel.davidson/CivilResistanceToWarsAtTheWhiteHouseOn121610#

 

For more info nationally contact:

 

Mike Ferner, 419-360-3621;

Elaine Brower, 917-520-0767;

Leah Bolger, 541-207-7761

Veterans For Peace, 314-725-6005,

www.veteransforpeace.org, www.stopthesewars.org

 

Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 8:37 PM

 

Eleven Arrested in Times Square Antiwar Action

 

Cathy Breen, Carmen Trotta, Matt Tessitore and I joined Dorothy Day's

grand-daughter Martha Hennessy, two local members of Veterans for

Peace, Professor James Marsh of Fordham University, and three others

in a symbolic blockade of 44th Street opposite the military recruiting

station in Times Square.

 

We were all taken to the midtown south precinct, and released later in

the evening with summonses for Disorderly Conduct.  We'll be going to

court on March 1st for this arrest.  We certainly appreciate the

support we got from over a hundred people who chained themselves to

the White House fence, and look forward to sharing our stories with

them, in the hopes of a rekindled antiwar movement in the days to come.

 

Felton Davis

c/o Maryhouse

(212) 777-9617

davisfelton3@yahoo.com

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