Arrests occurred in several states yesterday and today as peace activists pushed for commitments from elected officials to vote against President Bush’s request for an additional $93 billion to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Arrests occurred in Fairbanks, Alaska; Chicago, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and St. Louis, Missouri.

Office occupations were also underway at the offices of Representative Marcy Kaptur (Toledo, Ohio) and Representative Tim Allen (Portland, Maine). In addition, activists occupied offices in Denver, Colorado; Charlottesville, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; Medford, Massachusetts and Madison, Wisconsin. In Chicago, 25 people intent on visiting the offices of Senators Obama and Durbin were locked out of the Federal Building. Senator Obama’s staff assured the visitors that they wanted to receive them. Senator Durbin’s staff abruptly ended a cell phone conversation with the group.

The actions are part of the Occupation Project, a campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience to end Iraq war funding. A lead group in the effort is Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

KATHY KELLY
Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kelly has recently returned from two months living and working with Iraqi refugees in Amman.
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BETSY BREZNICEK
Breznicek is communications and outreach specialist with Veterans for Peace, based in Missouri. She said today: “We’ve had over 25 arrests this month here in the offices of Senator Claire McCaskill, and Congressman Russ Carnahan. These have included veterans, nuns, students and university professors.” Video
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167