At 4pm Friday, DC’s newest anti-war organization launched their first action at a recruitment center in Silver Springs, MD. Armed with handmade signs in both English and Spanish, the anti-recruitment protestors lined the street in front of the recruitment center.


Genevieve Calmes, 39, of Washington DC


Marco Del Feugo, 41, of Washington DC

The protestors were greeted by a small but vocal group of counter protestors, comprised of ex-soldiers and a group of military age males, who do not plan on serving despite their support for the war, that identified themselves as Protest Warriors.


Matthew, 22, of Maryland holds a Marine flag and wears an Israeli Defense Forces shirt despite having never served in either.

Set in a lower class, predominately black section of Silver Spring Maryland where pawn shops outnumber banks, members of Resistance and Solidarity said that the army was intentionally targeting economically disadvantaged people for recruitment. The army recruitment officer, who asked to be identified only as Steve, responded to these criticisms by pointing out that his center also handled the upper class neighborhood of Bethesda. When asked why the center wasn’t in Bethesda Steve said that the Army Corps of Engineers chose the location for the center and that race and economics did not play a factor.


Silver Spring residents that the army hopes to recruit

When asked why they chose to form a new organization to protest the United States’ military policies, the members explained that they wanted an alternative to the DC Anti War Network (DC DAWN) that was more focused on actions. The majority of Resistance and Solidarity are ex-DC DAWN members.

Certain members of DC DAWN, who were not at the protest but were interviewed for this story, said that there was disagreement over the direction of the organization as well as personality conflicts leading to the split. There was disagreement over the impact that the splinter group would have on the DC Anti-war community, with one member saying that a new space had been opened up that might appeal to different people and another expressing regret that people left DC DAWN instead of trying to reform it, pointing out that DC DAWN has been working for five years and the split will cost the organization resources. Both DC DAWN members interviewed asked not to be named for this story.

After the members of the counter protest went home in a large SUV, Resistance and Solidarity members began heading towards bicycles and public transportation. At the end of the day, the only sign of the protest visible from the recruitment office’s parking lot was a lone sign taped to the door.


The last sign of Friday's protest

The owner of the mattress store next door soon took the sign down. When this reporter inquired why he took the sign down, the mattress store owner attempted to sell him a mattress.