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Anti-war protesters spray paint Capitol building

Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of the west front steps of the United States Capitol building after police were ordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources told The Hill.

According to the sources, police officers were livid when they were told to fall back by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip Morse andDeputy Chief Daniel Nichols.  "They were the commanders on the scene," one source said, who requested anonymity. "It was disgusting."

After police ceded the stairs, located on the lower west front of the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added.

A second source who witnessed the incident said that the police had the crowd stopped at Third Street, but were told to bring the police line in front of the Capitol.

Approximately 300 protesters were allowed to take the steps and began to spray paint "anarchist symbols" and phrase such as "Our capitol building" and "you can’t stop us" around the area, the source said.

Morse responded to these claims in an e-mail Sunday afternoon explaining that the protesters were seeking confrontation with the police.

"While there were minor instances of spray painting of pavement by a splinter group of Anarchists who were seeking a confrontation with the police, their attempts to breach into secure areas and rush the doors of the Capitol were thwarted," Morse said. "The graffiti was easily removed by the dedicated [Architect of the Capitol] staff, some of whom responded on their day off to quickly clean the area."

He added, "It is the USCP's duty and responsibility to protect the Capitol complex, staff and public while allowing the public to exercise their First Amendment rights … at the end of the day, both occurred without injury to protestors or officers."

Yet, the sources who talked to The Hill were furious that protesters were not stopped before reaching the Capitol.

"To get that close to the Capitol building, that is ridiculous," the second source said. "[Police] were told not to arrest anyone."

The second source added that police had to stand by and watch as protesters posed in front of their graffiti.

Tens of thousands of people rallied on the Mall and the Capitol complex Saturday in protest of the increased troop deployments and the war in Iraq.

Protestors lay seige to US Capitol, smash window at military recruiter

Congress and military recruiters both got a small sample of what will happen if the US invades Iran, brings back the draft-or maybe just stays in Iraq two more years-from anticapitalist marchers during the larger Jan 27th antiwar mobilization.

At the start of the march I joked that SDS, the organizers, would have to "make their bones or leave their bones." Well, they've made their mark in a big way today!

The march from Dupont Circle started out with 150 people or so, but grew as reinforcing contingents joined in at seveal points. In front were "tower" shields like those used by Roman soldiers or riot cops today.

We passed through the shopping area in Chinatown on the way to the Capitol, and all the yuppies there wer reminded that children are being killed in Iraq while they shop and dine.

The real action begain at the US Capitol, where Congressional Democrats are trying to shirk their responsabiity to block the surge, cut off funding for the war, and impeach buth Bush and Cheney. These are the things they were elected to do, ant ALL parts of today's action are a reminder that they had better get in the fight.

At the Capitol, police tried to block anyone from going past Third St, but were quickly bypassed by goign between parked cars. Capitol police then tried to hold the line, but a bulge formed and their lines collapsed under the sheer weight of hundreds of furious people with tower shields in front.

The cops were pused back, the crowd turned the corner and flanked them, and finally they abandoned the reflecting pool and fell back to 1st st. The crowd soon followed, and police lines wer pushed back again, with resistance stiffenign at the Capitol steps. We got the plaza ther but no further-so people flanked out again, finally laying seige to the south entrance(House side) of the Capitol.

Here things stabilized, and eventually marchers moved on as the main march got going.

It appeared that when the main march lead elements got back to the mall, others were still elaving the mall, thus surrounding the entire US capitol with hundreds of thousands of protestors. This in combination with the earlier action amounted to a true seige of Capitol Hill!

When the main march ended, anticapitalist proestors moved back into the streets of NW, and decided to protest at the military recruiters at 14th and L sts. Once there, someone threw a rock, smashing the recruiter's window damned good.

At this point, cops boiled up like angry hornets-onloy to be told by someone that mass arrests wer out of the question. Nobody was arrested but several people were punched.

AN INDEPENDANT REPORTER WAS PUNCHED IN THE FACE BY A COPT FOR TAKING NOTES ON THIS INCIDENT-interview included in the audio piece.

Unable to make mass arrests after setting their perimeter, cops had to let everyone elave, at which point people headed back to the Mall-and again to the US Capitol.

At the Capitol for the second time, there were repeated threats of mass arrest, and people wer forced off the Capitol grounds, but no arrests reported as of 6PM Jan 27.

This is but a tiny taste of what will happen if the tens of millions of people who voted NO on Republican rule in November are betrayed by Nancy Pelosi or Hillery Clinton.

Thousands participate in anti-war march on Capitol building

Thousands of anti-war protestors marched to the Capitol building Saturday demanding the Congress take steps to block President Bush's new plan to reinforce the U.S. troops in Iraq and to withdraw the troops already there.

The demonstrators, reciting "Bring the troops home," were joined by activists like actress Jane Fonda and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, politicians, including Democratic Representative Maxine Waters, active duty soldiers and several families, whose children are in combat service in Iraq.

The protestors wanted the Congress, now dominated by the Democrats, to block the funding sought by Bush to continue the U.S. involvement in Iraq and his new plan to send 21,500 additional troops there.

Several leaders addressed the protestors saying the country has lost confidence in Bush's policies and his attempts at increasing the U.S. presence in Iraq should be foiled.

Jane Fonda, who participated in the march along with co-actors Sean Penn and Tim Robbins said, "I haven't spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years because of lies about me that were used to hurt the anti-war movement,'' referring to the criticism about her speaking against the U.S. perpetrating a war in Vietnam in 1972.

The crowd was addressed by Bob Watada, the father of a 28-year-old army Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who has refused to be redeployed in Iraq in 2006 as he said he had lost faith in the president and the war in Iraq and is now facing imprisonment for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Bob Watada told the gathering his son had joined the army and volunteered to go to Iraq in 2003 out of patriotism.

The loss of faith in the Bush administration was evident when a group of 1200 active duty servicemen and women had signed a petition calling on the Congress to bring the troops back home from Iraq and attended the rally.

Jesse Jackson said the country needed new priorities and new directions. "We do not need more troops in Iraq, we need more dollars at home," he said.

Bush is facing strong opposition from the Democrat-dominated Congress to his plan to send additional troops to reinforce the 132,000 U.S. troops already in Iraq. The new speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, had visited Iraq recently and had plainly told Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki that it was time Iraqis took responsibility for their own security. The Senate foreign relations committee had approved a nonbinding resolution calling the Iraq buildup "not in the national interest."

More than 3,000 U.S. troops have been killed and 22,800 have been wounded in the war that started in 2003. Several thousands of Iraqis too have been killed in the war.

The demonstration was organized by United for Peace and Justice. It claimed 500,000 people had attended the rally, though other estimates put the figure at a lower level. The protestors are planning several such demonstrations in Washington and elsewhere over the next week to influence lawmakers to take action against the Bush proposal.

According to opinion polls, Bush's approval ratings have dropped drastically and that a majority of Americans disapprove of his plan reinforce the troops in Iraq.

Bush said he has no intention of withdrawing his plan. A White House spokesperson said the president understands that Americans want to see a conclusion to the war in Iraq and the new strategy is designed to do just that.

Protesters at U.S. Capitol facing arrest 
Anti-war radicals spray-painted slogans on steps

At least a dozen disruptive anti-war protesters have been arrested in congressional office buildings this week, and authorities say an investigation continues into the spray-paint vandalism done to the U.S. Capitol at last weekend's anti-war rally, and more arrests are possible.

The attack on the treasure that is the U.S. Capitol itself last weekend, when anti-war slogans were painted on the steps leading up to the entrance, went under-reported among major media outlets.

WND asked about it at a press briefing at the White House as soon as it happened, but about the only other media outlet to report on the damage was The Hill.

Brian Fitzpatrick, of the Culture and Media Institute, said the vandals – "black-clad radicals, many wearing masks" did the damage.

"Here's what ABC, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, USA Today and other major outlets did not find newsworthy:" he wrote in a commentary on the problem.

"Waving red and black flags, and carrying riot shields emblazoned with 'America out of everywhere,' 300 protesters spray-painted 'anarchist symbols,' political taunts and curses on the west front steps of the Capitol building. The western side is the portion of the Capitol facing the Mall, which was in full view of every reporter and cameraman covering the march."

Now Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is reporting that he was so distraught by the assault on the national symbol, he met with U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse and U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer.

"The U.S. Constitution does protect the freedom of speech, but it also protects property," he said. "I was outraged that the Capitol was defaced. The entire Capitol campus is a national treasure and should never be harmed as part of any protest or demonstration. I needed to personally share my thoughts with Chief Morse and I was pleased that he shared my sentiments and explained the situation from this past weekend."

Allard reported that a "small number of demonstrators" engaged in the vandalism by using "premeditated shielding methods to hide themselves from the view of officers as they defaced the capitol grounds."

"The Capitol is an important symbol of our democracy and I am pleased that the Capitol Police did their best this weekend under trying circumstances," said Allard. "I expect that we will use this as an opportunity to improve on crowd control measures in the future. I was pleased that Chief Morse intends to place a renewed emphasis on planning, staffing, and preparation for future demonstrations.

Fitzpatrick reported that police had been ordered to stand aside and allow "the anarchists, many of whom were members of Students for a Democratic Society," to do their vandalism unmolested, but Allard said Capitol police assured him that they are reviewing all available videotapes of the weekend and will arrest those who can be identified.

Allard said he was assured by Morse that the vandalism was not "allowed," but happened despite officers' efforts to protect the building and its grounds.

"I was absolutely dismayed by the vandalism and the blatant disregard for respect of property that occurred at our Nation's Capitol," Allard said. "On a day when thousands came to Washington, D.C., to exercise their First Amendment rights, the actions of a select few have tarnished their efforts by defacing the United States Capitol and several other government buildings. I am disgusted by these actions…," he said.

"An Associated Press story reprinted by The Washington Post briefly mentioned the rush on the Capitol. A writer for CounterPunch, a leftwing newsletter, bemoaned the failure of more protestors to join the charge up the Capitol steps, so 'it would have been hard for the men in blue to do much.' Apart from The Hill's story, that’s all the coverage of the assault on and defacement of the Capitol that I could find," Fitzpatrick wrote.

"Apparently the media don’t want Americans to know that some of the people protesting the Iraq war are filled with hate not only for the war, or even President Bush, but for America itself."

WND had, at its first opportunity, asked presidential spokesman Tony Snow about the situation.

"This Hill newspaper on Capitol Hill reports that Jane Fonda's fellow anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on the part of the west front steps of the U.S. Capitol building on Saturday after U.S. Capitol Police were ordered by Chief Phillip Morse to fall back, after which 300 protesters spray painted, 'Our Capitol Building' and 'You can't stop us,'" said Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House.

"And my question, does the executive branch believe the legislative branch should have allowed this treatment of the Capitol building of the United States?" he asked.

"I would encourage you, or all others interested, to call the Capitol Police and find out how this came to pass. I just – I can't answer it," said Snow.

"Yes, one wonders what does the president – he must have an opinion on this? Doesn't he?" continued Kinsolving.

But Snow already had gone on to the next question.