"Police arrest 18 protesters at three campaign offices"

"Police arrest 18 protesters at three campaign offices" by Jens Manuel Krogstad  Des Moines Register, Jan 1, 2012

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/31/police-arrest-18-protesters-at-three-campaign-offices/

 

A chaotic scene broke out Saturday as 10 protesters were arrested

outside the campaign office of Michele Bachmann, where the candidate

had arrived to meet with volunteers.

 

About 90 people affiliated with Occupy the Caucus marched through

downtown Des Moines, and demonstrated outside the campaign offices of

Republican presidential contenders Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich

and Rick Santorum. Another eight people were arrested outside the

offices of Gingrich and Santorum.

 

A day of protests against perceived Wall Street greed, corporate money

in politics and income inequality ended outside the shuttered Des

Moines campaign offices of President Barack Obama.

 

About two dozen people arrived from Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas

and Illinois to participate in a fourth day of demonstrations in

advance of Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses. Since Tuesday, protesters have

reported traveling to Iowa from 25 states, Washington, D.C., and the

countries of Canada, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom, organizers said.

 

Among those arrested outside Bachmann’s office were David Goodner, 30,

a member of Occupy Des Moines, and two minors, Heaven Chamberlin, 16,

and Frankie Hughes, 14. Hughes had been arrested at a protest

Thursday. No one appeared to resist arrest.

 

Unlike more orderly arrests at demonstrations in Des Moines last week,

Urbandale police were waiting outside Bachmann’s campaign office when

the group arrived.

 

Two officers instructed the group to remain on public ground, and

attempted to block the crowd from reaching the campaign office doors,

located in a strip mall. But chanting demonstrators marched past and

gathered at the office doors. More officers arrived as the protest

progressed. Organizers then urged demonstrators to stay tightly

grouped to gain safety in numbers.

 

Many in the crowd shot video and snapped pictures on cellphones. They

booed and chanted, “Shame on you,” when police cuffed the teenage

girls and placed them in the back seats of police cars.

 

Bachmann later called the protesters “Obama’s re-election advance

team,” who traveled to her office because she presents the biggest

threat to Obama’s re-election in November.

 

The arrests caught organizers by surprise, because they had not

planned on risking arrest when they planned the day’s demonstrations,

said Tony Tyler, 30, a member of Occupy Des Moines.

 

“We went up to the doors to express our concerns, and instead they’d

rather have us arrested,” he said.

 

Victor Luevano, 30, arrived from Austin, Texas, on Saturday with three

friends. He said he previously worked as a painter in Denver earning

$25 an hour. When he saw his friends being laid off this fall, he said

he quit his job to join the protests. He has since traveled to Texas,

Kansas City and Washington, D.C.

 

“I sold my Xbox and flat-screen TV, and packed my bags,” he said.

“I’ve dedicated a lot to the Occupy movement.”

 

Saturday capped a week of protests and arrests in the Des Moines area.

Police made 27 arrests Wednesday and Thursday at four protest locations.

 

Reporters Paige Godden, Katherine Klingseis, Matt Woolbright and

Regina Zilbermints contributed to this story

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Occupy Iowa Caucus web page: http://www.occupyiowacaucuses.org/ 515-423-0199

 

Des Moines Catholic Worker contacts for Occupy Des Moines:

Megan Felt - 515.991.1663 <megan.rae.felt@gmail.com>

Renee Espeland - 515.664.1326 <purpleclothlydia@aol.com>

David Goodner - 515.991.6357 <david.a.goodner@gmail.com>