March 13
Federal security officers arrested Peg Morton and Trudy Maloney on Monday, March 12 after they refused to leave Representative Peter DeFazio’s office. Morton and Maloney and others from the Occupation Project (www.vcnv.org) had spent the afternoon peacefully praying for DeFazio to listen to his conscience and pledge to vote against Bush’s request for supplemental funding to continue the Iraq war.
Across the United States, social justice advocates are engaging in local campaigns of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience at the offices of Representatives and Senators who do not publicly pledge to vote against additional funding for the war. Campaigns have emerged in 19 states from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. More than 160 people have been arrested over the past several weeks, including 7 people in Senator Gordon Smith’s Portland office and 4 people in Representative DeFazio’s Eugene office.
Actions will continue as Congress debates funding for Iraq.
