Anti-war protesters spray paint Capitol building

[weaselchew]

I searched and didn't see this posted yet...

http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/012507/protesters.html

Anti-war protesters spray paint Capitol building
By Jackie Kucinich
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.

What they fail to mention is that the US Capitol Police Chief takes orders from ol' Nancy Pelosi...

So can we expect to deface goverment property and get away with it because it's "covered by our first amendment rights"??

Another site (here) brought up a good point as well:

Perkins bemoaned what he termed a double standard, stating that the war protest was heavily covered despite drawing just 10,000 participants. Organizers for the protest hoped to draw 100,000 people, but according to Newsday, police—who no longer issue official crowd estimates—privately indicated the crowd was smaller than 100,000. Despite the widespread coverage, Perkins said few news agencies reported on the vandalism to the capitol.

“What a difference an ideology makes,” Perkins said Jan. 29 in his regular Washington Update column. “Last Monday, (Jan. 22) 200,000 pro-lifers descended on the nation's capital to peacefully protest 34 years of abortion-on-demand. Despite record crowds and a line-up of speakers that included President Bush by phone, the March for Life earned little more than a footnote in the nation's news.”

A pretty vast difference in protestors, how the media up-plays the anti-war and down-plays the anti-abortionists is amazing (but typical)
Can you imagine the world of trouble they would have gotten into by spray painting their "first amendment protected" ideas for anti-abortion on the Capitol?

If second amendment rights had the envelope pushed equally, citizens would be *issued* a gun as a requirement.