Reply #19: DC Indymedia Report

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http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/130425/index.php
 
25 Activists arrested at the Pentagon this morning in a direct action. Others asked to have their bags searched; Pentagon Metro station apparently closed down momentarily.
This morning, 25 activists have been arrested at the Pentagon, taking part in a direct action sponsored by the NYC chapter of the War Resisters' League. Several other groups supported the action, among them the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker's, DC Anti-War Network, and Socialist Party USA.

A group of 6 were arrested right outside the Pentagon Metro; another 19 arrested on a side entrance along one side of it.

While this was going on, a weekly vigil against war was going on, as some in the WRL fliered (which is apparently not allowed at this location).

Pentagon police approached some activists, including me, who were wearing backpacks. They asked to search the backpacks, citing that since it was federal property that they were allowed to conduct searches and seizures. However, the activists refused to have their bags searched. One bystander, who was not initially approached, came in and offered to show the bags. I don't recall whether police were interested. I walked away to grab some more observers. Within a minute, police backed down.

However, the longer we stayed, the more police approached, surrounding the vigil. At that point, I decided to leave, getting ready for another action later today (report to come).

After leaving the Metro station to catch a bus, I heard over the speakers, "Pentagon Metro closed due to a police situation." Apparently, according to witnesses, a brigade of police followed a couple activists leaving by Metro. They were not arrested. It's not clear whether this was the moment that the station was closed, but it seems likely due to the timing.

We do not know the charges against the arrestees. Most often, the arrestees face charges of disorderly conduct and are shortly released. According to one activist who goes down their regularly, usually charges are dropped after a court appearance. In the past, though, some have faced 3 to 6 months in prison for the same charges. If anything on their status changes, we will report it.

The police did some of the work for the protesters, blocking off one of the main entrances to the Pentagon, as the protest happened. When the 6 were arrested, there was a moment when access to and from the Metro station was completely blocked off. Had UFPJ done the mass action at the Pentagon, there might have been an interesting amount of disruption. With very small numbers of activists, the amount of disruption was surprisingly high.