This was put out for immediate release, so I figured I would share it with everyone….
OCCUPATION PROJECT PROTESTS and ARRESTS AT: Representative Udall, Senator Salazar and Representative DeGette Offices
STOP IRAQ WAR FUNDING AND PREVENT IRAN ATTACK
Westminster and Denver - A caravaning protest and office occupation was held at the offices of Representative Mark Udall, Senator Ken Salazar and Representative Diana DeGette today. The protests were held to lodge grievances with the U.S. government and to seek votes from these congress people against (1) continuing Iraq war funding, specifically the $90 to $100 billion supplemental war funding bill currently being considered in Congress, and (2) to prevent the Bush administration from attacking Iran.
More than 100 people attended these three sequential events between 11:00 am and 3:30 pm today, and each person individually went into the offices of these Representatives and Senatorial offices to express their grievances to the government, presenting documents, letters, petitions, photos, and other evidence and statements about the atrocities, immorality, illegality, and waste of valuable human and financial resources in this egregious war policy of the United States.
At Rep. Udall’s office after all individuals had lodged their complaints regarding the ongoing war and its funding, plus demands that legislative action be taken to prevent the President from attacking Iran, a group of five people in an affinity group entered the office, lodged their demands and refused to leave until Rep. Udall publicly agreed to these two demands. After allowing them to remain for a few minutes, the Udall office staff subsequently called Westminster police and asked them to arrest the affinity group for refusing to leave. All five were arrested and charged with trespassing and unlawful assembly. All five were booked and released on bonds with a trial date set for April 17 in Adams County court.
The five arrested individuals, all Colorado citizens from Rep. Udall’s district, are:
David Krest, Age 66
Duke Austin, Age 32
Eric Bonds, Age 30
Rob Ketterhagen, Age 45
Carolyn Bninski, not stated
Verbatim statements of these arrested individuals are provided below.
This group of today’s arrested protesters follows two other recent Occupation Project civil disobedience actions, one at Rep. Udall’s office on Monday, March 5 with four arrests, and one at Senator Salazar’s office on Wednesday, February 21 with seven people arrested.
All protest actions were peaceful and all participating individuals had engaged in extensive non-violence training classes.
The other two Occupation Project actions today at Senator Ken Salazar’s office at 1:00 pm and Representative Diana DeGette’s office at 2:30 pm occurred without arrests, and like the Udall office action, each participating person went into the office and lodged their grievances with staff.
Project Occupation will continue with repeated groups of citizens going to these offices in the days and weeks ahead. Project Occupation was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. The local Denver area Occupation Project was organized by Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center of Boulder
Photos of today’s events and previous actions and arrests at Congressional offices are posted on www.rmpjc.org and www.coloradopeace.org. These photos are freely available to use in press stories or television media for broadcast use. Video coverage is available upon request.
Additional Information: Contact Richard Andrews, 303 673 0098 (w) or 303 499 3031 (h), rich@zeoponix.com
or call Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center 303 444 6981