Report & Video of January 6, 2009 March of the Dead
Channel 9 News segment: http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=80156&catid=158
YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX-LRlSmevo
17 Anti-War Protesters Arrested on First Day of 111th Congress
“March of the Dead” ends in Hart Senate Office Building Arrests
January 7, 2009 at 16:51:30
by Elaine Brower
Yesterday was the first day of the 111th Congress. For the first time since the November elections, members of Congress returned to the Hill, and newly elected officials were sworn in with pomp and circumstance, with their families in tow. What a proud moment for them, especially the recently minted democrats who rode the wave of national discontent with the republican party. The halls of the Dirksen, Russell and Hart Buildings were freshly scrubbed, and bustling with food, people, and new furniture.
However, gathering a few blocks away were anti-war activists determined to rain on their parade by reminding these partygoers that there are wars happening, with lots of death and destruction, compliments of Congressional funding and complicity. The “March of the Dead”, created by the group “Activist Response Team” or ART, sent out a call for all those with a conscience to show up on January 6th in D.C. to wear a mask and carry the name of someone killed in illegal wars and occupations.
They gathered, approximately seventy people, in the inclement weather, blocks away, doning white masks and wearing all black signifying the souls of those who will be haunting the criminals who are sending bombs to kill Iraqis, Afghanis, Palestinians and members of the military who are the lethal arm of this government’s quest for empire. About 11:45 AM the solemn march started in a downpour, with media watching and documenting the procession of the dead. Winding their way around the streets of D.C., the 70 represented over a million humans wantonly killed by mega-ton bombs and drone missiles; by soldiers’ bullets, car bombs and IED explosions. The souls of the dead reminding those who are living of the horrors of aggression.
The march stopped at the Supreme Court Building, where the guards expected the protesters to conduct civil disobedience. But moments later, the group moved away kept their ambling pace, hands open with black gloves and staring gazes. Their mission was to bring the dead to Congress.
Unexpectedly, at about 2:00 PM, the marchers entered the Senate Hart Building, and slowly moved into the middle of the open atrium where eight stories up are offices with large windows facing inside. The stark vision of death disrupted the staff inside the building, including some of those Senators who were reveling in their glory. The names of those killed in the wars began to be read and the press followed them.
In the center of this open area, about forty protesters kept reading and calling out to those in the building to end the war, end the illegal occupation, and stop the funding to Israel. The passionate pleas were noticed, and most came out of their offices to gaze down upon the spectacle, while munching their chips or drinking soda, something those dead would never do again.
Simultaneously with the reading of the names five huge banners were dramatically unfurled over the sides of the railings facing into the atrium. The largest, about four stories high, black with white lettering, read “THE AUDACITY OF WAR CRIMES.” It was dropped from the fifth floor and tied to the railing.
Across the way “IRAQ” “AFGANISTAN” and “PALESTINE” banners were also dropped and tied to the railings. The Capitol Police, who were present when the march came into the building, quickly responded to remove the words that were so hurtful to those who were guilty of committing these war crimes. Within seconds, the banners were pulled up, but it gave press and other independent media a chance to photograph it all. An everlasting message to the murderers who keep spending taxpayer dollars to kill innocent people.
At that point seven people were arrested for unfurling the words of truth, but those on the ground floor of the Hart Building remained reading the names of the dead. The police were gathering in force, and just as a secure perimeter was formed around the masked readers, another banner announcing “WE WILL NOT BE SILENT” was dropped. Quickly, three people were carted off by the police, and the banner was cut down. But those onlookers on the ground floor applauded and yelled with excitement.
The reading continued for another 30 minutes. A warning was issued for them to stop their “unlawful activities”, or be arrested. The police announced that the protesters were “disrupting the building,” when in reality, it was war, death and destruction that was the disruption.
So on the first day of the 111th Congress, within the hour they were being sworn in, the dead were marching to remind them what they had done, what they are doing, and that it should end immediately. When it was over, seventeen courageous protesters were arrested. Those that participated in the banner action were charged with “unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct” and must return for a court appearance because it is a grave offense to speak the truth. Those who read the names were charged with “unlawful conduct” and were able to pay and leave. But the dead will not be forgotten.
By 3:15 PM the building was empty of those who called attention to the atrocities sanctioned by those who occupied the offices. But the souls of the dead will remain there, filling up the halls, hovering over their desks, following them home, forever to be haunting those who are and who will remain responsible and complicit for causing this holocaust.
Elaine Brower - Anti-war activist, mother of U.S. Marine currently on his way to Iraq for a 3rd tour of duty; member of Steering Committee for the “World Can’t Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime” and Military Families.
Account from Lori Perdue, CodePink
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Sent: Tue 1/06/09 5:15 PM To: IN Peace & Justice Network ()
Thank you for the blessing Nick. It means so very much coming from you. The action today was inspiring and saddening in equal portions.
There were apx 60 citizens dressed in all black, wearing white masks and placards with a name of a person killed in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Palestinian Territories. We slowly, in memorial, marched from the SE corner of the Capitol, past the Supreme Court, the Senate office buildings the Capitol Building (the new “visitors center” under construction) and back up the House side of the Capitol. Following the procession, we gathered in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building to witness the reading of the names of the victims.(mine was Abeer Hazam, the 15 year old Iraqi girl raped, murdered and burned by US troops in 2006. The soldiers involved have been prosecuted for her death and the deaths of her family members.) There were five banners dropped from various spots along the atrium in this action. Three of the banners (at least three stories tall) bore the names of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, one read “We Will Not Be Silent” and the other I regret to report I didn’t catch it’s message. I was in a discussion with Capitol Police about the possible arrest of a compatriot and they cut it down pretty fast, before I could get a look at it. Things happen pretty fast here.
All in all there were 12-15 arrests in the Hart, of those who refused to remove their masks or were handling the banners. The Capitol Police gave the arrestees three warnings and then arrested them. There was absolutely NO violence from anyone, even the police. David Swanson of afterdowningstreet.org was among those arrested.
The rest of the afternoon I spent on the Hill going from one congressional reception to another, meeting several Senators and pressuring them to do more, to do all they can, to bring our troops HOME in 2009. I met Sen. John Kerry for the first time (he’s TALL! And, encouraging of CODEPINK) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, whose hand I shook and encouraged her to push harder to end the conflict in Gaza and thanked her for her NO Vote on the Iraq War. She thanked us for our work and said she would continue to push for peaceful, diplomatic solutions. … I’m off to a Vigil for those killed in Gaza and will be back in touch tomorrow after my adventures in the House of Representatives.
In Peace and Solidarity, Lori
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March of the Dead to Greet Congress
For Immediate Release
Contact: David Swanson david@davidswanson. org 202-329-7847; Laurie Arbeiter 917-915-6115; Peter Cobb 415-686-1096
MARCH OF THE DEAD TO GREET CONGRESS ON TUESDAY
WHAT: A long column of figures dressed all in black with white death masks and bearing the names of those killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. The march will be followed by a dramatic nonviolent action intended to awaken Congress to the need to end the wars.
WHEN: March from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Additional dramatic action 2:15 p.m.
WHERE: The march will approach the U.S. Capitol on Pennsylvania Ave. SE and turn north on 1st Street to pass between the Capitol and the Supreme Court, turn west on Constitution Ave. to pass the Senate office buildings, turn south to pass the west front of the Capitol, and turn east on Independence Ave. to pass the House office buildings. Members of the media wanting to cover the additional nonviolent action should meet representatives of the March of the Dead in front of the Supreme Court at 2 p.m.
WHY: “We will be conducting the March of the Dead as the 111th Congress is being sworn in,” said Laurie Arbeiter of the Activist Response Team, creators of the march. “We demand that this Congress end the terror of war, get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, stay out of Iran, Pakistan, and Syria and stop all support of Israeli foreign and military policy that results in massacres like the current one in Gaza.”
“The power to begin and end wars rests with Congress,” said David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org, “and the responsibility of Congress is to represent the American people. We have now for the second time elected a Congress to end the occupation of Iraq, and this time we will insist that it be ended. A treaty unratified by the Senate cannot legalize three more years of war. And the human impact of long-distance slaughter cannot be kept from the eyes of Congress members if we make up our minds that they will see it.”
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David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union” by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to “The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush” published by Feral House and available at Amazon.com. Swanson holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson is Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ConvictBushCheney. org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, and Voters for Peace, a member of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, and convener of the accountability and prosecution working group of United for Peace and Justice.