Peace activists arrested in D. C.

Former FBI agent turned peace activist Colleen Rowley marching in front of the 13 people (most of them from St. Joan of Arc Church in South Minneapolis) who would be arrested for a nonviolent die-in demonstration in front of the White House.

Twenty-five peace activists from Minneapolis went to Washington, D. C., to protest the continued wars in the Middle East on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the day before President Obama’s State of the Union Address. They were joined by 20 other members of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, a national nonviolent direct action anti-war group founded by Kathy Kelly of Chicago.

They had cardboard tombstones of the 77 Minnesotans who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group read their names. They had a “peace shoe” that they threw at their sign “Occupation” to honor the Iraqi journalist who threw two shoes at President Bush to protest the murder of innocent women and children in his country.

At about 10:30 a.m. 13 of the demonstrators staged a “die-in” on the sidewalk in front of the White House. They lay down on the sidewalk and were symbolically given the last rites by a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania. After three warnings, the 13, including Marie and John Braun and Steve Clemens, were arrested by D. C. police and booked. They had to stay in jail overnight and were fined $100. According to Clemens, they received very rough treatment in the D. C. jails. (For a more detailed description of the arrests see Steve Clemens’ blog: http://www.mennonista.blogspot.com/)

Another unpermitted march has been called by Direct Action to Stop War & Occupation (DASWO) in response to the expansion of U.S. military violence into Yemen and Pakistan. The march will take place on Thursday, Feb. 11, leaving from the central library in downtown Minneapolis at 4 p.m. and disrupting business as usual in the streets and skyways.

On the day after President Obama announced a massive military surge of 30,000 troops to accelerate the occupation of Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 2, DASWO responded by taking the streets of downtown in an unpermitted march to stop business as usual against the escalation of war. Eleven people were arrested at the intersection of 10th Street and 3rd Avenue for taking part in a sit-in to disrupt traffic.

All 11 people who were arrested have had their single misdemeanor unlawful assembly charge continued for dismissal, pending the completion of eight hours of community service at a nonprofit of their choosing and no conviction of Public Nuisance in the next six months.