Six peace activists arrested at Franken’s office

BY KIM DOSS-SMITH

On Thursday, April 8, a crowd of about 75 peace protestors
gathered outside Senator Al Franken’s St. Paul office to urge Franken to vote against the proposed $33 billion dollar supplemental bill for the war on Afghanistan. A peaceful crowd started gathering outside the senator’s office at around 4 p.m. with banners and signs saying “No More Money for WAR.” Amid honks and cheers from passing motorists, the crowd chanted “Vote No” and read names of Minnesotans killed in recent warfare.

After a peaceful rally, a separate group of about 30 members of the
Minnesota Peaceable Assembly Campaign Committee went into Senator Franken’s office. An aide from Franken’s office told the crowd that Franken was in Washington and could not meet with the group. The group explained that the purpose of its visit was to hear how Franken planned to vote on the supplemental bill that will be voted on by Congress on or around April 15.

The crowd, which included several veterans, nuns and longtime peace activists, patiently explained their position to Franken’s staff while staff members desperately tried to get Franken on the phone. When it was announced that Franken’s office was closing at 5:30, peace activists Betty McKenzie, Vicky Andrews, Jon Braun, Bruce Berry, Tom Bottolene and Dave Luce did a “die-in,” lying down on the floor of Franken’s office. Remniscient of office takeovers in the 1960s, the rest of the crowd refused to leave and started singing, “We shall overcome,” “Down by the Riverside” and “This land is your land.”

Activists continued to occupy Frankens’s office until Senator Franken spoke to the group via conference call, after arriving in Minnesota by plane. En route to the Twin Cities from Duluth, Franken spoke to the group from his car. He stated that he would be voting yes for the $33 billion supplemental bill, despite activists’ concerns that war funding, not health care funding, was bankrupting the nation.
After the conference call, police were called in to clear the office. Most activists left the building. Those activists participating in the “die-in” remained on the floor, with Ghandi-like determination. They were escorted from Franken’s office by police, and then arrested as they left the building. All were cited for trespass and released. No date has been set for their hearings.