Anti-war protesters spray paint Capitol building

[stephanie]

By Jackie Kucinich
Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of thewest front steps of the United States Capitol building after police wereordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources toldThe Hill.

According to the sources, police officers were livid when theywere 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 frontof the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added.

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

Approximately 300 protesters were allowed to take the steps andbegan to spray paint "anarchist symbols" and phrase such as "Ourcapitol building" and "you can’t stop us" around the area, thesource 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 ofpavement by a splinter group of Anarchists who were seeking a confrontationwith the police, their attempts to breach into secure areas and rush thedoors of the Capitol were thwarted," Morse said. "The graffiti waseasily removed by the dedicated [Architect of the Capitol] staff, some ofwhom responded on their day off to quickly clean the area."

He added, "It is the USCP's duty and responsibility to protectthe Capitol complex, staff and public while allowing the public to exercisetheir First Amendment rights … at the end of the day, both occurredwithout injury to protestors or officers."

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

"To get that close to the Capitol building, that isridiculous," the second source said. "[Police] were told not to arrestanyone."

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

Tens of thousands of people rallied on the Mall and the Capitolcomplex Saturday in protest of the increased troop deployments and the warin Iraq.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/Th...rotesters.html

[Gaffer]

Destruction of property and threatening physical harm is not expressing consitutional rights.

[jillian]

Destruction of property and threatening physical harm is not expressing consitutional rights.

I agree. Though if one reads the article, it didn't imply that this was the intent of all of the protesters, only a "splinter group of Anarchists".... buncha jerks.

[stephanie]

Destruction of property and threatening physical harm is not expressing consitutional rights.

Well...Those peace loving liberals don't let that get in their way...

[jillian]

Well...Those peace loving liberals don't let that get in their way...

Read your own article, Steffie. It WASN'T the "liberals". It was the Anarchists, a splinter group at that. They're an extreme fringe. You know, like your fringe nutters who protest gays at soldiers' funerals.

[Gunny]

Well...Those peace loving liberals don't let that get in their way...

Jill's got this one right, according to your post. Militant anarchists are extremists, and associated more with libertarians than liberals.

And you KNOW I'd be one of the first to jump on the libs if it was them.

[stephanie]

Jill's got this one right, according to your post. Militant anarchists are extremists, and associated more with libertarians than liberals.

And you KNOW I'd be one of the first to jump on the libs if it was them.

I know she was....But I just didn't want to admit it to her....

[Gunny]

I know she was....But I just didn't want to admit it to her....

[manu1959]

Read your own article, Steffie. It WASN'T the "liberals". It was the Anarchists, a splinter group at that. They're an extreme fringe. You know, like your fringe nutters who protest gays at soldiers' funerals.

all yall need to learn to control your dogs.....

[Mr. P]

Jill's got this one right, according to your post. Militant anarchists are extremists, and associated more with libertarians than liberals.

And you KNOW I'd be one of the first to jump on the libs if it was them.

Overall libertarians are not anywhere close to extremists, unless you consider following the Constitution extremist.

[Gunny]

Overall libertarians are not anywhere close to extremists, unless you consider following the Constitution extremist.

Nor did I mean to imply overall, that libertarians are extremists. I don't consider anarchists any more representative of mainstream libertarians than I consider abortion clinic bombers representative of conservatives.

However, and since it's been several years since I debated with one so feel free to correct me, when taken to its ultimate goal, libertarianism is all about individual responsibility without government. The extreme version of that would be anarchy.

[OCA]

I was in the District Friday night dropping off a couple people at the Rod Stewart show at the Verizon Center in Chinatown and you should have seen all the fucks getting ready for Saturday, you could smell the patchouli oil and body odor from blocks away.

Funny thing is they never, ever achieve anything other than to piss off the locals by tying up traffic. These people are harmless but the fucks who painted the steps should have been given the baton two step.

[jillian]

all yall need to learn to control your dogs.....

Can you control your dogs? You know, Fred Phelps, the ijits at the soldiers funerals (granted, a court order got issued against them because it was repetative behavior.... but not because of anything the repubs did).

Extremists are extremists. Can't tell them they can't attend an event, can you? Like I said, they're idiots, but they aren't *my* idiots.

[Mr. P]

Nor did I mean to imply overall, that libertarians are extremists. I don't consider anarchists any more representative of mainstream libertarians than I consider abortion clinic bombers representative of conservatives.

However, and since it's been several years since I debated with one so feel free to correct me, when taken to its ultimate goal, libertarianism is all about individual responsibility without government. The extreme version of that would be anarchy.

Minimum, not without.

[manu1959]

Can you control your dogs? You know, Fred Phelps, the ijits at the soldiers funerals (granted, a court order got issued against them because it was repetative behavior.... but not because of anything the repubs did).

Extremists are extremists. Can't tell them they can't attend an event, can you? Like I said, they're idiots, but they aren't *my* idiots.

i don't have folks.....protesting the war is one thing destroying property is another.....our right wing bikers attacked fred and his folks ...ran em out of town...what did your boys do?