Resistance Media | Washington DC Protest Photography

Over 80 Arrested at US Supreme Court Demanding Guantanamo be Shut Down

Ted Stein — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:34:38 GMT

OVER 80 ARRESTED AT U.S. SUPREME COURT
DIRECT ACTION TODAY DEMANDED SHUT-DOWN OF GUANTANAMO AND AN END TO TORTURE AND INDEFINITE DETENTION

WASHINGTON, DC – Early this afternoon, at least 80 activists organized by Witness Against Torture delivered a message to the U.S. Supreme Court demanding the shut-down of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo and justice for those detained. About 40 activists were arrested inside the Court building and another 35 on the steps. The arrests, for demonstrating without a permit, followed a solemn march from the National Mall of 400 persons that included a procession of activists dressed like the Guantánamo prisoners in orange jumpsuits and black hoods. They were part of an International Day of Action that was endorsed by a broad and unprecedented coalition of over 100 groups and that included 83 events around the world.

The International Day of Action launches a concerted campaign to Shut Down Guantánamo. For more information, please visit www.witnesstorture.org.

Inside, a member of Witness Against Torture delivered a letter to the nine Supreme Court justices regarding Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush, the two cases brought by Guantánamo detainees that the Court is now considering. They also delivered a writ of habeas corpus for each of the 275 current detainees. Other activists attempted to unfurl a banner inside the Court building but were prevented from doing so by police, who began arresting them and shut the front doors to the building. Another group then started reading the names of the Guantánamo prisoners, but were prevented. They then sat down and started chanting, “Shut it down!” prior to being arrested.

At approximately the same time, about 25 activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods representing the men imprisoned at Guantánamo knelt on the steps of the Court building with hands before them and bowed heads, the position detainees in Guantánamo are often required to assume; others unfurled a banner on the steps. They were arrested as well. Each arrestee had entered the building without ID, and was taken into custody under the name of one of the Guantánamo prisoners.

“This group brought the names of the victims of Guantánamo right to the Supreme Court,” said Elizabeth McAlister, a member of the Jonah House community in Baltimore and the mother of one of the persons arrested inside the Court. “The Court has listened and listened to the views of the imprisoned, but has not heard them.”

Outside the Court, advocates read testimonies and names of prisoners, performed street theater, and handed out information. One performance was a simulation of waterboarding, one of the most controversial torture tactics used at Guantánamo and other U.S. detention centers.

January 11, 2008 marks six years of detention without hope of release for nearly 300 men at Guantánamo. “Lawyers are working hard to bring the cases of the prisoners into the courts,” said Susan Crane of Witness Against Torture, who was arrested in today’s action. “But lawyers can only do so much. These prisoners, who have been illegally detained, tortured, abused, and kept from their families for years, are not even able to communicate openly with their lawyers. That’s why we were here today to appeal to the Supreme Court justices to stand up now and end this abuse.”

Witness Against Torture is calling on the U.S. government to:
* Repeal the Military Commissions Act and restore Habeas Corpus;
* Charge and try or release all detainees;
* Clearly and unequivocally forbid torture and all other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, by the military, the CIA, prison guards, civilian contractors, or anyone else;
* Pay reparations to current and former detainees and their families for violations of their human rights; and
* Shut down Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and all secret CIA detention facilities.

About Witness Against Torture
Tomorrow's action is the latest by Witness Against Torture, which came into being in December 2005 when a group of 24 friends walked to Guantánamo to visit the prisoners – an action following the nonviolent tradition of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. Upon returning to the U.S., they continued the work with public education and community outreach, networking and resource sharing, and acts of nonviolent civil resistance to draw attention to the plight of prisoners in Guantánamo and victims of the war on terrorism everywhere.

*** PROFESSIONAL, HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT RESISTANCEMEDIA.ORG, OR BY CALLING (202) 270-6665 ***

###

A Dialogue on Virginia Tech, the Second Amendment, and Resistance

Ted Stein — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:46:00 GMT

by Shahid Buttar, a Constitutional Attorney and Organizer

Missing the Point

Owen Courrèges graciously recaps parts of my reflections on the Virginia Tech massacre and analysis of the Second Amendment, but unfortunately misconstrues others and overlooks the ultimate point. He starts by making four points opposing my observation that "no right is absolute."

The first and second both relate to the same straw man. Courrèges characterizes my argument as suggesting that any government interference with an individual right would be legitimate, while I say no such thing. He then draws concern – about a standard as lax as “what[ever] the government feels is necessary” – to a non-issue.

Contrary to his suggestion, a "blanket ban on gun ownership" is the antithesis of a narrowly tailored law, which by definition would have to take a more subtle form. A narrowly tailored restriction might limit the kinds of guns available or enhance oversight mechanisms, such as registration requirements or waiting lists, to ensure that violent or mentally unstable people don't gain access to deadly weapons. My reflections on the Virginia Tech shootings do not imply a "blanket ban on gun ownership," nor would such a law be narrowly tailored.

Courrèges also confuses the implications of the Korematsu decision, while correctly noting that it is "widely regarded as incorrectly decided." Less than a century before Korematsu was decided, our nation fought a Civil War over, among others, a principle enshrined in the 14^th Amendment: that no citizen shall be denied equal protection under the law on account of race. Yet despite undertaking its most exacting analysis, under the "strict scrutiny" standard, the Supreme Court allowed 100,000 Japanese-Americans to be incarcerated – only to face universal derision ever since. The decision demonstrates the outer edge of judicial deference to government restrictions on rights. It is all-too-concrete proof that "no right is absolute."

As I write in my initial reflections, "[e]ven the most precious liberties are subject to judicial scrutiny, and the authorization of restrictions where justified." Korematsu shows what can happen when the judiciary takes a permissive view towards government power, sometimes authorizing restrictions on liberties even when not justified. Korematsu also indicates the meaninglessness of constitutional protections, in the sense that they can be summarily rejected by a court disinclined to protect them.

Finally, Courrèges contrives an artificial and arbitrary time slice to suggest that gun control hasn't worked in Britain because rates of gun violence are increasing. But the same official British source that he cites also specifies that in 2005, the country experienced a "6% reduction in serious injuries from firearms offences" and a "16% reduction in the use of handguns."

Moreover, even if gun violence in Britain has risen in recent years, it remains well below U.S. levels. My point is not that gun violence in Britain is decreasing over time – which carries no implications for my analysis – but rather than it has historically been and remains low when compared to the U.S. example. According to the British Home Office, "the overall level of gun crime in the UK is very low – less than 0.5% of all crime recorded by the police."

Separately, Courrèges mistakenly suggests that my initial article "spun the Second Amendment to where it doesn’t protect what it purports to protect, namely the right to keep and bear arms, and instead protects the rights of extremist protest groups against law enforcement." He summarily concludes that "the Second Amendment deals with the possibility of armed insurrection, not protests," because "[t]he rights of protestors are effecitvely [sic] dealt with elsewhere."

But Courrèges would have to admit that "armed insurrection" is simply not a viable possibility today, given advances in technology and weaponry available only to the government. As a result, the private right guaranteed by the Second Amendment – the right to keep and bear arms – no longer serves its public purpose. In the face of so inexorable a change, should we simply disregard the Amendment's purpose and let it fade from constitutional memory? If so, from whence stems the private right to which Courrèges appears so committed?

The answer is simple: the Constitution is more than a mere statute. It was meant to endure across time, to embody a set of principles to guide the Republic across history. From that perspective, we are bound to consider what it would take for the Second Amendment to apply meaningfully in contemporary society, given its aims of enshrining an independent popular check on state action.

If the Amendment at one point protected a right to violent anti-government resistance, as it quite clearly did from a textual perspective, it must also encompass the lesser-included right to non-violent resistance. And while weapons technology has rendered a violent uprising untenable today, non-violent resistance is no less efficacious now than it has been in the past.

From this reasoning, sit-ins and other assertive reclamations of public space warrant constitutional protection beyond that afforded to mere speech in dissent. While the assembly and speech rights of social and political dissidents are indeed addressed elsewhere, only the Second Amendment guarantees a right for such figures to mount resistance to the state.

The gun lobby thus holds an inverse view of the Second Amendment, presuming the existence of a private right carrying immense social costs in the form of rampant deaths. Moreover, gun advocates fail to recognize the basis for the right they assert, overlooking the critical role it has to play in protecting liberty at a time when our executive branch, at least, seems increasingly inclined to disregard it.

March on the Pentagon: Iraq 4th Anniversery

Ted Stein — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:19:56 GMT

3/17/07 --- For the first time since 1967, tens of thousands of Americans marched on the Pentagon demanding an end to an imperialist disastrous war. Today’s march marked the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war.

Sponsored by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), today's march was smaller than the march in January, perhaps due to the freezing weather. The 1967 march on the Pentagon was also on a cold day, but unlike today, many of the peace activists spent the night in the cold of the Pentagon’s parking lot after refusing to leave when their permit expired. There were hundreds of arrests in 1967, but only a small handful at today’s march (there was a confrontation with police by the bridge to the Pentagon where the demonstrators were ultimately pushed back with few arrests). However, many hundreds, if not thousands, of religious pacifists associated with the Declaration of Peace engaged in civil disobedience in front of the White House yesterday and there were approximately two hundred arrests. Resistance Media was not able to attend yesterday’s action and does not have photographs.

There were a few hundred counter-protestors, mostly associated with the right wing website the Free Republic, who seemed to enjoy yelling profanities and giving the middle finger to the peace activists (which included a lot of children and elderly). Despite the belligerence and relatively small numbers of people demonstrating in favor of more war, Resistance Media expects a lot of media coverage portraying the pro-war demonstration in a more positive light than the peace demonstration.

The Memorial bridge to Virginia

Some of the more colorful signs approach the Pentagon

Two generations of veterans marched together to end the war

The war supporters were also in attendence:

Counter-protesters express their reasons for supporting the war

Counter-protesters engaged in dialouge with the peace activists

An Event to Remember: Torture, the White House and TASSC

Ted Stein — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:22:46 GMT

3/9/07 – Members and friends of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) gathered in front of the White House today to remember the victims and survivors of torture. Many of those in attendance were survivors of torture. Tragically, torture is still being practiced by over 150 countries around the world today. TASSC focuses on the United States Federal Government because it is one of those 150 countries and the Central Intelligence Agency and the School of the Americas trained the interrogators who disappeared and tortured some of the survivors in attendance.

TASSC, an organization founded by survivors of torture with a vision of a torture free world, will be holding a twenty four hour vigil in front of the White House on June 23^rd. TASSC has organized and supports many Communities of Healing around the world and members of the Communities fly to the United States every June to participate in the vigil and share their experiences and techniques in their quest to overcome their torture experiences.

Full disclosure: I am a regular volunteer with TASSC and have been a paid employee in the past.

Sister Dianna Ortiz, founder and Executive Director of TASSC

Orlando Tizon of TASSC

Sister Alice Zimmerman, a longtime TASSC volunteer

Fallon Senate Confirmation Hearing

Ted Stein — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 23:42:59 GMT

1/30/07 -- Today the Senate held a hearing to question Admiral William Fallon, who has been nominated to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid as head of Central Command, which includes all military operations in Iraq and Afganistan. The Pentagon has divided up the entire world into commands and Central Command includes the Middle East, East Africa and Central Asia. Admiral Fallon is President Bush's choice for the command.

When Senator Lieberman (Independent, CT) began asking questions, a half dozen people affiliated with Code Pink, Women for Peace, rose in silence, some with their hands raised in peace signs while others held shoes representing Iraqi victims of the Iraq war. They remained standing throughoutt Sen. Lieberman's questioning, did not speak, and the police, who quickly gathered in the back of the room, did not ask them to leave.

After the hearing, the women (and men) asked Fallon to think more than his predecessor about the lives that are being destroyed in the war.

For his part, during the questioning by the senators, Fallon echoed what peace activists have been saying (and vilified for saying) for years: "What we have been doing has not been working," he said. "We have got to be doing, it seems to me, something different." Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Adm. Fallon did not say what the something different would be.

Activists rose as Sen. Lieberman began speaking

Shoes represnting a five year old Iraqi girl killed in the war on Iraq

Code Pink Asks Hillary to be a Woman for Peace; 6 Arrested

Ted Stein — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 23:24:21 GMT

1/30/07 -- Over 40 women involved with the grassroots organization Code Pink, Women for Peace, delivered a message to Sen. Hillary Clinton's office: despite having spent their whole lives waiting and hoping to vote for a woman for president, many women will refuse to vote for a candidate that still supports the war on Iraq.

Today was not the first time Code Pink has delivered a message to Sen. Clinton. On March 6, 2003 Ms. Clinton met with Code Pink and was presented a choice: receive a pink medal of courage as some of Ms. Clinton's colleauges have, or receive a pink slip. After Ms. Clinton explained her vote for the Iraq war -- on since discredited evidence -- Ms. Clinton was presented with a pink slip. Video of 2003 interaction here (thanks to reader oak 5).

After the women were forced out of Hillary’s office by Capitol Hill Police, many began weaving a ‘web of war’ out of pink fabric and string while chanting ‘End this war, Hillary!’ The police ordered the women to leave the building and six refused, including one of Ms. Clinton’s constituents, Sonia Silbert of New York. The six were arrested by police. The chaos of the arrests was amplified by the 'web of war' and several flags were knocked over.

The group of women (and men) gathered outside Sen. Clinton's office and read a pledge that they asked her to sign

When the women entered the office, staffers in Clinton's office yelled for the women to be removed and attempted to forbid photography

The women's message was clear

Medea Benjamin, a founder of Code Pink, caught in the 'web of war.'

\
The web significantly complicated the arrests

Rae Abileah, of California

Jan. 27th Mass Mobilization

Ted Stein — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:46:48 GMT

1/27/07 – Citizens from all over the country descended upon Washington DC today to demand that Congress listen to the voices of the voters and bring an end to the Iraq war. Today’s rally began a three day mass mobilization, which will continue with training tomorrow, followed by lobbying on Monday.

The mobilization, called for by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), began with two hours of speeches (list of speakers) in front of the capital, followed by a short march which deviated from the route that Capitol Police approved and ended up encircling the Capitol. The original march route would have had the peace activists sharing one road, each marching in different directions. Resistance Media has never seen such a march route before, as it would have had the activists marching towards – and chanting towards – each other.

Rep. Maxine Waters (Dem., CA), who was near the front of the march, spoke with the Capitol Hill Police officers and demanded that the police move the buses they were using to blockade Independence Avenue. Perhaps in deference to the new Democratic administration, perhaps in deference to a member of Congress, or perhaps in deference to over a hundred thousand US citizens, the police moved the buses and let the march continue down Independence.

The crowd was made up of people from all over the country and representing hundreds of different organizations. While UFPJ, an umbrella organization with many member-groups all over the country, wrote the call to action for the Jan. 27th mobilization, many other non-UFPJ affiliated organizations showed up to voice their support for ending the war. Despite the large number of organizations represented, and with a few notable exceptions, the mobilization was almost wholly white and middle class despite most of the victims of war being working class people of color.

Estimates of the size of the mobilization vary, from the corporate media’s ‘tens of thousands’ to UFPJ’s estimate of 500,000. While Resistance Media doesn’t claim to have a sophisticated, universally agreed upon, methodology for determining crowd size (much like the Washington Post and New York Times do not), it seems unlikely that the crowd was less than 100,000.

The rally and march had almost no acts of civil disobedience, with the exception of a single group of around 250 black clad anarchists, who rushed the largely unguarded steps to the Capitol. The police presence was light Saturday, and the police exercised restraint and worked to de-escalate the situation. After the police cleared the protestors, all that was left was an anarchist symbol spray painted on the Capitol and a broken foot from a police motorcycle. No arrests were made.

A Walk In Iraqi Shoes

Ted Stein — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:57:57 GMT

As the number of Iraqis who have lost their lives as a result of the war climbs well into the hundreds of thousands, it becomes difficult to understand the tragedy on a human level. Code Pink has been using shoes to remind people of the individuals who have lost their lives. Building up to the ralley tomorrow, Code Pink placed thousands of pairs of shoes, each labeled with the name of an Iraqi, on the lawn in front of the capitol and organized a press conference in front of the shoes.

The founders of Code Pink, a representative from the recent Johns Hopkins University Iraq study, the exectuive director of Veterans for Peace, and a representative of Iraqi Voices for Peace spoke at the press conference.

(Some of these photos also appear on Code Pink's website)

Activists bring the plight of Guantanamo Prisoners to Federal Court; 89 arrested

Ted Stein — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:08:59 GMT

Activists marked the fifth anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo Bay by forcing the names of the prisoners into the Federal court system. Eighty-nine Witness Against Torture (WAT) activists entered the Federal Court and filed Habeas Corpus petitions on behalf of the men held at Guantánamo Bay. Most dressed in tee-shirts saying "Shut Down Guantánamo"and "Stop Torture" and assumed the identity of a man still held in Guantánamo. The action occurred five years to the day after the first prisoners were transferred to Guantánamo. "In five long years these men have never been given the right to a day in court, the only way to get their names and stories into the court was to bring them there ourselves" says WAT activist Frida Berrigan, one of today's arrestees. Many of those arrested will continue their resistance by being processed in the name of Guantánamo prisoners.

All 89 were arrested by US Marshals around 1:30pm today. Activists had entered the building throughout the morning to submit their petitions and stayed to read the names of all Guantanamo prisoners and accounts of their torture and illegal imprisonment. Also while inside, they managed to drop banners reading "Shut Down Guantánamo" from balconies in the court atrium.

Meanwhile over 500 people processed from the Supreme Court to the Federal Court, 200 of them in orange jumpsuits and hoods. At the Federal Court, forty 'Guantanamo prisoners' in hoods and jumpsuits attempted to enter the building for their day in court but were denied entry by the police. The prisoners then sat down in front of the Federal Court as hundreds more chanted "let them in!".

The protest was organized by Witness Against Torture, a group of Christians that marched to Guantanamo and held a vigil in December 2005. There were over 100 protests held throughout the world to mark today, the 5th anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners to Guantanamo. Thousands participated in the coordinated actions around the world today as part of the International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo.

(Some of these photos also appear on the Witness Against Torture website, the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, the Nuclear Resister, the Radical Catholic, WIN Magzine, and the Progressive)

Who's Press Conference? Our Press Conference!

Ted Stein — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:26:58 GMT

Gold Star Families for Peace and Code Pink planned on simply lobbying their members of congress, but plans changed when Capitol Hill Police refused to allow anyone to bring in literature to hand to their representatives (it could be covered in anthrax, they said).

During the hour long debate about the literature, Cindy Sheehan decided that since the police were stopping her from legally lobbying, she was willing to risk arrest to get her message out and quietly asked if anyone would join her in disrupting a press conference that the democratic leadership was about to hold on ethics. Resistance Media found it ironic that the illegal disruption of a press conference was being planned while the police were arguing about people bringing in literature. And the police eventually let the literature in after a number of phone calls with lawyers and representatives.

The group of roughly 50 divided in two, with some going to lobby and some going to the press conference.

Dozens of democratic representatives were in a closed door meeting, while the press set up for the press conference, to occur just outside the room. Rahm Emanuel came out of the room and stepped up to the podium. Instead of speaking about the ethical duty of ending the death and destruction in Iraq, he began speaking about issues that were sure not to offend anyone. About a minute in, dozens of voices began chanting: Investigate, De-Escalate, Troops Home Now!

For some reason nobody was arrested or even asked to leave. Anti-war police?

Rahm Emanuel's face went white and he simply turned around and walked back into the room his colleagues were waiting in. Leaving an empty podium. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Cindy Sheehan walked up to the now vacant podium and began taking questions. One wonders what the house leadership was discussing while hiding behind closed doors as the peace activists addressed the nation from what was supposed to be their press conference.

After the press conference, the routine lobbying continued. After the lobbying, people went to the White House And read the names of 3004 dead soldiers.

(Some of these photos may appear in this month's issue of the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs.)

It all began with Cindy Sheehan's voice.

Others joined in.

Cindy took the podium and demanded an end to the funding of the war.

Despite representing the majority of Americans, the peace community is usually ignored by the press, but not today.

Rarely seen in the so called People's House: People outside of the political elite. (Notice the faces of the corporate media.)

Non-press Conference related photos from today:

Before lobbying.

Ever wondered what 3,004 names looks like? It's a pretty thick book.

Cindy lights a candle for her son.

The faces of once living family members of Gold Star Families for Peace.

So many names, so many faces.

Another Thousand US Troops Dead

Ted Stein — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:33:19 GMT

Joseph Stalin once said that "the death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic," but peace activists have always disagreed. Just as they did when the death toll for US soldiers in Iraq reached one thousand, just as they did when the death toll for for US soldiers in Iraq reached two thousand, activists gathered on Memorial Bridge for a candlelight vigil to mourn the senseless death of three thousand US troops. Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Brown v. Board Revisited

Ted Stein — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:02:32 GMT

As the Supreme Court listened to arguments in favor of resegregating schools, thousands of people, mostly black high school students, rallied outside the Supreme Court to demand equal education. After the arguments, the group marched down the mall to the Lincoln Memorial.

At The Gates of Fort Benning

Ted Stein — Thu, 24 May 2007 14:31:24 GMT

While over 20,000 people traveled to the gates of Fort Benning thousands more gathered in protests and vigils throughout the Americas. Coordinated actions protesting US militarism and calling for the closure of the SOA took place over the weekend of Nov. 18-19 in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay and Peru, as well as in Ireland, Canada and at other sites in the US.

This year’s vigil was the largest gathering in support of Latin American Solidarity since the 1980s as well as the largest protest at the gates of a military base since the Vietnam War.

The annual vigil has grown in size and scope every year, from about a dozen people to over 20,000 this year. What began as an attempt to expose the atrocities that were being committed by School of the America’s graduates, has grown into the nexus of US-based resistance to militarism in Latin American.

Despite harsh jail sentences of three to six months in prison, sixteen people – including two grandmothers and one priest – carried the protest on to the grounds of the military base and became prisoners of conscious.

Event organized by SOA Watch.

(Some of these pictures also appear on the SOA Watch website and Presente! newsletter.)

A Mayan Priest blesses the crowd Sunday morning

Actors, representing victims, symbolically died at the gates of Fort Benning

Small vestages of lives lost lined the road to Fort Benning

Two women honoring the memory of Oscar Romero during the symbolic funeral procession

No Mas, No More

Nuns with the Sisters of Christian Charity

Frankie Flores of TASSC, with an fmln flag

Rev. Charles Steele

The Oaxaca Puppet

Military Police watching over the crowd of non-violent protestors

The wall seperating the vigil from the base has grown more intimidating year after year. Now, the line is three fences topped with barbed wire and patroled by armed guards.

Those willing to surrender their freedoms to expose the torture and murders made it onto the grounds of the base and now face trial in January. Please consider writing to prisoners.

Grieving Mothers, including Cindy Sheehan, Arrested in Front of White House

Ted Stein — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:43:37 GMT

The mothers of two fallen soldiers, and the mothers of two soldiers currently serving in Iraq, were arrested today outside the White House when they refused to leave the west gate. Despite the pouring rain, dozens of people, including five veterans, gathered to support the Gold Star mothers and asked the police why they were arresting the mothers instead of the war criminals on the other side of the gate.

Cindy Sheehan, Nancy Nahei, Mikal Hutto, and Rebbeca (last name witheld by request) were arrested. As Cindy Sheehan was about to get arrested she yelled towards the White House: "This isn't a rodeo George, this is real life. You really killed my son. This is real."

Immokalee Workers Focus New Campaign on McDonalds

Ted Stein — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:01:43 GMT

Yesterday on the corner of 18th and Columbia, NW, around a dozen protestors, mostly dressed as clowns, demanded that McDonalds stop clowning around with worker's rights.

The protest was one of over 40 around the country, and was organized by the Student Farmworker Alliance in solidarity of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The CIW is made up of tomato pickers in Florida, who have been living under brutal, dehumanizing conditions.

In 2005, the CIW and a coalition of US college student, won a penny more per pound of tomatoes (the CIW's only demand), after a four year boycott of Taco Bell. The CIW is now demanding the same, a penny more per pound, from McDonald's.

At around 1pm, a half dozen college students from Georgetown and George Washington University lined up in front of the Adams Morgan McDonald's, on the corner of 18th and Columbia, and began chanting and handing out information about the conditions of the Immokalee workers. Over the next hour, the crowd swelled to over a dozen as more college students, and local residents joined in.

The response from the community was positive, with a large number asking where they can learn more about the topic. A letter was delivered to the manager of the McDonald's asking him to support the penny more per pound.

Organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Student Farmworker Alliance.

Religious Organizations Mourn the Death of Habeas Corpus; 16 Arrested

Ted Stein — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:03:26 GMT

As President Bush signed the Military Comissions Act of 2006, about two hundred people gathered in the rain in front of the White House to mourn the death of basic liberties.

After listening to leaders of the religious social justice movement and a choir siging religious hymns, the mourners began a funeral procession to the west gate of the White House. Upon arriving at the gate, those gathered asked the guards at the White House gate to deliver a signing statement to President Bush.

The police surrounded an area with yellow tape and then ordered everyone on the other side of it. Sixteen people refused and were arrested.

Organized by the Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture.

(Some of these photos also appear in this month's issue of The Progressive and Sojourners .)

World Can't Wait (for people to show up)

Ted Stein — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:03:41 GMT

Yesterday's World Can't Wait ralley in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, was one of what organizers say was over 240 ralleys held around the country to drive out the Bush Regime. After four hours of speeches the crowd walked over to the White House and lined the front with crime scene tape. Despite a full page ad in the New York Times and USA Today, attendence was minimal at only about 300. There was no civil disobedience and nobody got arrested.

Organized by the World Can't Wait.

Hundreds Arrested for Declaring Peace

Ted Stein — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 14:47:40 GMT

Over the past week, hundreds of Americans were arrested for engaging in civil disobedience while protesting the ongoing war in Iraq. Resistance Media covered the DC events, which began on Thursday, the 21st, when over 30 were arrested, including the Rev. Yearwood of the DC based Hip Hop Caucus, while attempting to deliver a Declaration of Peace to the White House.

Friday, Code Pink did a number of banner drops in the Atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building, encouraging their representatives to Vote for Peace. Their voices filled the hallways of Hart, singing out 'War is Over ... If You Want It.' The Police respected Code Pink's first amendment rights and nobody was arrested.

On the following Tuesday, the police arrested around 100 people on the lawn of the capitol, the steps of the Russell Senate Office Building, and the Atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. The day began with an inter faith vigil, where the crowd of about 250 listened to Rabbis, Priests, and Buddhists expressing their thoughts about declaring peace and accepting the consequences of civil disobedience.

Yesterday's event, the last of what the organizers label 'the first phase of the Declaration of Peace,' was a solemn symbolic funeral procession to the Russell Senate Office Building. The marchers marched in silence; only the sounds of drums and police motorcycles filled the air as the coffins, draped in flags and black cloth, were carried down the streets of Capitol Hill, past the Capitol and stunned tourists, to the doors of Russell.

Those willing to risk jail to help end the war in Iraq lay down in front of the doors of the office building, not allowing senators or their staff to enter or leave the building. While protestors read the names and ages of the dead, both Iraqi and American, police began arresting the peaceful protestors.

The following photographs are from yesterday. See the archives for photographs of the other days.

(Some of these photos also appear in this month's Peace Work as well defense exhibits 2(a) through 2(g))

Declaration of Peace delivered to the Senate; Over 70 Arrested

Ted Stein — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:04:08 GMT

Pictures also on Democracy NOW! with Amy Goodman. Resistance Media photographs from 25 minutes 22 seconds to 27 minutes 37 seconds; just click to view video.

Over 70 people were arrested today during a die in at the Hart Senate Office Building, the Russell Senate Office Building and the Capitol.

An Inter-Faith Vigil Before the Action

Ashes are Poured Into Water

Meanwhile, at Russell...

And then at Hart ...

The building was effectively shut down:

Code Pink Alerts Senate Office Building

Ted Stein — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:04:28 GMT

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.