Kathy Kelly
January 27, 2010
At 2:00 this afternoon, 13 peace activists charged with unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and failure to obey an officer appeared before a D.C. judge after spending the night in each of three lockups. Because all of them lived outside of Washington, D.C., the government held them overnight rather than release them on their own recognizance. The activists, nine of whom are from Minnesota, were arrested after laying down on the sidewalk in front of the White House, while their companions sang softly, in remembrance of people, including 77 Minnesotans, who were killed during U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All involved were participating in the Voices for Creative Nonviolence campaign, launched three months ago, calling for Peaceable Assembly in the nation’s capitol and in grassroots communities, to insist that lawmakers stop funding war. Four of the activists will return to Washington, D.C. for a court date. Nine of the group were given the option to pay a $150 fine and did so.
The severity of the charges and the harsh conditions of the D.C. jails may have been designed to deter activists from traveling to Washington, D.C. to exercise their right to free speech and participate in nonviolent direct action. But, as President Obama prepares to seek a freeze on all discretionary spending other than that which is spent for defense and Homeland Security departments, organizers are confident that opponents of these policies will continue to assemble peaceably for redress of grievance. To learn more about civil disobedience/resistance actions which have developed in Washington, D.C. over the past several weeks, please visit www.vcnv.org and www.witnesstorture.org
