At 11.30 this morning Code Pink did a series of banner drops inside the Senate Hart Office Building. The first action spanned six floors of the building, when women -- dressed in letters that spelled out 'NO WAR' -- removed their outer clothing to deliver the message to the senators and their staffs.
(Some of these photos also appear on
Code Pink's website.)
All of the Code Pink members began softly singing 'war is over / if you want it.' Despite the low volume, the singing filled the building with Code Pink's hopeful message.
The police quickly noticed, but were not sure what to do. As the police pondered what their course of action would be, other members of Code Pink dropped a 3 story tall pink slip, asking the senators to vote for peace.
Other banners soon began appearing from other balcolnies.
The banners stayed out for about 15 minutes, and the singing filled the halls of the senate office building, coming from virtually every floor.
When all of the banners were rolled up, everyone regrouped in the atrium and decided that arms are for hugging.
Individual hugs proved insufficient, so everyone held hands for a group hug.
Everyone agreed that the action was succesful and the police decided to respect Code Pink's first amendment rights.
Code Pink headed outside and joined together to continue their message.
A number of people decided to do another action at the Rayburn House Building, and Code Pink began walking in that direction, still singing.
At the Rayburn building, Code Pink was only able to deliver their message from the outside, as they were denied entry by the police, who told them that signs were not allowed in the building.
Both the police and Medea Benjamin, one of the founders of Code Pink, called their legal counsel to see if clothing counted as signs.
After a metaphysical debate about when a piece of clothing becomes a sign, the police decided that the clothing did count as signs and would not allow Code Pink entry into the building with their clothing. The police kindly offered to hold the lettered clothing so that Code Pink could enter the building and engage in more traditional lobbying.
