Thread: Hundreds flock to US Capitol to protest money in politics, hundreds arrested

Hundreds flock to US Capitol to protest money in politics, hundreds arrested

Published April 11, 2016 Associated Press

Alejandra Pablos of Arizona, lower right, leads a chant as voting rights reform demonstrators stage a sit-in at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, April 11, 2016, urging lawmakers to take money out of the political process. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)


Hundreds of protesters flocked to the U.S. Capitol Monday for a demonstration against the role of money in politics, prompting arrests of more than 400 by the Capitol police force.

The demonstration was part of a series of "Democracy Spring" protests planned in Washington this week by a coalition of groups.

The demonstrators chanted slogans like "one person, one vote" and "money out of politics" as they sat on the East Front of the Capitol. One sign read "Things go better without Koch," a reference to the billionaire businessmen David and Charles Koch, who have promised to lead an almost $900 million campaign to back favored candidates this election cycle.

The demonstrators also protested state voter ID laws, saying they suppress voter participation. Another chant protested Democratic "superdelegates" -- party figures, such as members of Congress, who are given votes at the Democratic National Convention but are not elected by primary elections or at party caucuses.

Police led dozens of protesters away in plastic handcuffs into a bus and shuttle vans, prompting cheers from the two groups of protesters, which were separated by a large police response.

U.S. Capitol Police said Monday evening that more than 400 people had been arrested for unlawful demonstration activity.

Many of the protesters had marched from Philadelphia to Washington over the past week.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016...-arrested.html

Only poor unemployed people should be allowed to run for office.

Keep the rich and their money out of politics.

Democracy Spring


SIT IN WITH THOUSANDS.

SAVE DEMOCRACY FOR MILLIONS.

MARCH: APRIL 2-11. SIT-INS: APRIL 11-18.

Now is the time to take mass nonviolent action on a historic scale to save our democracy. Following a ten-day, 140-mile march from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to Washington DC, thousands are gathering this week in in the nation’s Capital to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections in which every American has an equal voice.This week we began the process of taking back our democracy, with hundreds arrested in our first mass sit-in at the Capitol on Monday April 11.

Now day after day through Saturday April 16th we will continue to reclaim the Capitol in a show of hope and for the truly representative democracy we see in our hearts. Over 3,500 people, coming to DC from near and far, have pledged to risk arrest this week.

Buy your bus ticket, jump in your car, get yourself to DC for what will be one of the largest civil disobedience actions in a generation.

YES, I'LL BE THERE

I pledge to be one among thousands who will risk arrest to save democracy in DC between April 11 - 16

I pledge to come to Washington DC to support the sit in through legal protest but cannot risk arrest

I want to join the march from Philadelphia to Washington DC, sometime between April 2 - 11

Let's get to 4,000 pledges!


MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TRAININGS FOR SIT-IN DAY TWO -- TUESDAY 4/12:

Monday Night 6:30-9:30 PM
St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church (Basement), 1525 Newton St NW
Tuesday Morning 9:00-11:00 AM
Sanctuary, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St NE, Washington, DC 20003

Trainings will continue twice a day throughout the week according to this schedule

http://www.democracyspring.org/

For Immediate Release

Thursday, March 3, 2016 - 11:45am


AFL-CIO
Contact:
Peter James Callahan, Democracy Spring Communications Director
peterjamescallahan@gmail.com / (315) 430-6334



AFL-CIO All In Behind Democracy Spring

Nation’s largest labor federation joins over 100 organizations mobilizing their members to sit-in to save democracy at the U.S. Capitol in April.

WASHINGTON - The AFL-CIO has become the latest in a long line of organizations endorsing Democracy Spring, one of the largest civil disobedience actions in a generation.

More than 2,000 individuals from around the country, including Mark Ruffalo, Larry Lessig, and Zephyr Teachout as well as dozens of other civil society leaders, have joined Democracy Spring and pledged to risk arrest in a massive, peaceful sit-in in the U.S. Capitol. The protesters will demand that Congress immediately pass comprehensive legislation to end the era of big-money politics and ensure a democracy in which every vote counts, and every voice matters.



In a statement, the AFL-CIO Executive Council said, “Our members must be engaged as voters, activists, volunteers and stakeholders. Our unique infrastructure, which is in place in 50 states, allows us to catalyze organizing, mobilizing and resourcing democracy work with and through our affiliates, constituency groups and national strategic partners.

Therefore, we stand firm with the principles of the Spring Democracy uprisings:

• expansion and protection of voting rights at the federal and state level;
• preventing corporations and the wealthy few from buying elections;
• changing structural rules to ensure that every vote and every voice counts equally; and
• reshaping the political debate to demand full democracy at every level of government.

The institutions of our government need to function on behalf of the people regardless of who has power—it is bigger than parties, politics or profits. That is why this spring, when thousands of Americans stand in solidarity to demand reform, the labor movement will call for the Senate and House, the nation’s highest deliberative bodies, to act as the founders intended and ensure democracy for all.”

The campaign will kick off on April 2, when a pioneering group of marchers from around the country will gather at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to issue a simple demand to Congress: take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in politics and ensure our elections are free, fair, and afford every American an equal voice.

In the spirit of Granny D, Cesar Chavez, the Selma marchers and others who have fought for equality, the marchers will then set out on a 10-day, 140-mile march from Philadelphia to the nation’s Capitol. If Congress fails to act by April 11th when marchers arrive in D.C., they will conduct an historic, nonviolent sit-in in the Capitol to force Congress’ hand.

“Democracy Spring is coming. This latest endorsement from the AFL-CIO and the enthusiastic public response to Democracy Spring demonstrates Americans’ deep frustration with a political system that no longer hears our voices. Democracy Spring will turn widespread frustration into a powerful force to reclaim government of, by, and for the people,” said lead organizer Kai Newkirk.

Immediately following the mass sit-ins, Democracy Awakening will build on the momentum of Democracy Spring as thousands more pour into the nation’s capital for three additional days of direct actions, public education, and mass mobilizations.

###

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor unions. The AFL-CIO union movement represents 10.5 million members, including 2 million members in Working America, its new community affiliate. We are teachers and truck drivers, musicians and miners, firefighters and farm workers, bakers and bottlers, engineers and editors, pilots and public employees, doctors and nurses, painters and laborers-and more.


Organization Links

AFL-CIO


AFL-CIO (Press Center)


AFL-CIO (Action Center)

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire...mocracy-spring

Democracy Now Protest Shuffles Into D.C.



by NEIL MUNRO11 Apr 201620

The far-left Democracy Spring protest shuffled into Washington April 11, where it worked with police to stage a slow-motion, media-friendly mass-arrest of numerous protesters on the steps of the Capitol.

The march from Union Station to Capitol Hill, and the subsequent protest, tied up two streets and kept numerous photographers and police officers busy until the early afternoon.

More events are slated for this week, including “Elders Standing for Democracy Spring ” on April 12, “Racial Justice Day” on April 13 and “Labor Solidarity Day” on the April 14.



The organizers are a grab-bag of more than 100 left-wing organizations — Move On, AFL-CIO, National Organization for women — although the group has touted two non-progressive groups as part of the event.

The two groups “are determined to get big money out of politics,” said Dylan Lazaro, one of the field organizers for the Democracy Spring group.

The yellow-clad members of one supposed non-progressive group, Represent.US, however, declined to talk to Breitbart. The group was founded by a career progressive political activist, Josh Silver.


The protest organizers said they welcomed Breitbart News’ coverage of the protest, but asked a curly-haired female organizer to escort Breitbart’s reporter through the protest.

When the marchers reached the Capitol, they worked with the police to create two groups. One group sat at the foot of the Capitol Steps and waited to be arrested, while the other half of the march were shuffled back a hundred yards by the police.


As arranged, the protesters waiting at the steps were politely arrested one-by-one, and led away from the group. There was little fuss, except for periodic chanting, as more than 100 people were arrested.

The protesters, nearly all of whom were white, were mostly well-dressed, with many sporting designer brand clothes and accouterments. They were a mix of young people and older people, with relatively few working-age people present.

The protest was organized to maximize media coverage, and the D.C. media were happy to help.

“We believe all P.R. is good P.R,” said Lazaro. “We love when our opposition speaks about us because it only stretches the determination of our passive allies to turn into active allies,” he told Breitbart. “Thank you,” he added.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...fles-into-d-c/

4/12/16

Hundreds Arrested On Capitol Hill Protesting Congress

Police push protesters from Capitol 4/13/16

Democracy Spring Caps Off Week Of Demonstrations With 1,240 Arrests