This is what Democracy looks like!

"Veterans, military families and others -- marched from the White House to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to demand an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. The march concluded with a dramatic "die-in" of 5,000 people surrounding the Capitol. Almost 200 people were arrested when police prevented them taking an anti-war message to Congress. People marched shoulder-to-shoulder on eight-lane-wide Pennsylvania Avenue, with the densely packed march stretching more than 10 blocks. It was a historic action and a step forward for the anti-war movement. Protesters surged onto the Capitol's south lawn and up the steps where they were met by a police line. There, Iraq veterans conducted a solemn ceremony to memorialize the U.S. soldiers and Iraqis killed in the war. Over 5,000 people then laid down in a symbolic "die-in" -- one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in recent years." -Associated Press

I was one of the 192 veterans and activists arrested at the Capitol building. Let me share with you the true events of the our "Surge" on Congress...

At the end of the march route thousands of people flooded across the lawn of the Capitol building. We gathered at the steps conducting a ceremony to honor the dead in Iraq and then proceeded with a good old fashioned sit-in, (Die-In). After much waiting it became apparent that the police would not come and arrest us for our act of civil disobedience. So... we brought the civil disobedience to them! One after the other we broke through the police line and were arrested for doing so. This continued for some time as more and more got up from the ground and broke through the line to join their brothers and sisters in civil disobedience. Thousands of protesters cheered in support.

Wanting us out of sight from the many reporters police took each arrested protester up the Capitol steps to the terrace, but we would not sit and be silenced. The civil disobedience continued as we stood to our feet and chanted from atop the Capitol building to the massive crowd below. Finally police took us to the rear of the building were we filled many large buses on our way to be processed. This would be the largest arrest at the Capitol since the 70's!

At the station we wait in the bus, cuffed and in a stress position for six hours. There was a lot of damage to my shoulders and wrists, and my hands had swollen very badly. Once in the station the protest continued all night long. Chanting, shouting, and clapping it was now clear to the officers that the march did not end on Pennsylvania avenue, we had brought it to them here... and it would continue until every one of us was released. For twelve hours the message to end the war went on and cheers went up loudly each time one of us had finished processing, been given their citation, and released out the back door.

One of the best surprises was yet to come. After 12 hours of hostile treatment from police I was finally released at 7 am Sunday morning. I walked out the back door of the station and nearly broke down at what I saw. Waiting outside the station all night long released protesters were waiting in solidarity. They began clapping and cheering in support, just as they had done inside the station with the release of each detainee. I am truly honored to have been a part of this group and a part of history in D.C.

This is what Democracy looks like!

Peace,
Rick