Mikulski has constituents arrested

Nonviolent Maryland citizens protesting Iraq War are taken away by Capitol Police; Senator continues to support war funding

Washington, D.C. - At 6:05pm [Feb. 27], Sen. Barbara Mikulski had Capitol Police arrest four of her own constituents when they refused to leave her office. The four were part of a group of 20 that nonviolently occupied Sen. Mikulski’s office for three hours that afternoon, reading the names of Iraqi and American dead in a memorial to those killed, and in a plea to Sen. Mikulski to stop voting for continued war funding.

Read the entire press release on this interesting-looking blog.

Check back soon for word about anniversary events

(these two photos
Copyright 2007 TH Williams)


A few weeks after the big January event, the weather was a little different. This is how it looked early in the first shift. The second shift (1 to 2 p.m.), which has been coming out three strong every week lately, had much deeper snow to contend with. But they did so with bright spirits.

Conversations about marking the anniversary of the attack on Iraq have begun. Please stay tuned.

At last, an account of January 27, 2007

Sorry for the delay in reporting on the January 27 vigil. Here is the higher estimate of how many people took part: a total of three dozen over the day, with about as many as thirty out at once. Most other people who estimated said "about twenty-five to thirty." People participating ranged in age from those who have been doing this since the war in Vietnam to a baby for peace. Participants included Fred Muir, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, and Samuel E. Shropshire, Annapolis alderperson from Ward 7.

Our local low-power FM radio station, WRYR-LP 97.5 FM, covered the day's events extensively. The coverage included telephone interviews on the air with various people on the bridge as well as at the main event in DC.



A photographer and a reporter from the Capital came out at the announced starting time. Still looking for a link to the photo that ran Sunday, January 28. The article ran Monday, January 29.

Where it is difficult to read the sign in one of the pictures here, try clicking on the picture. This should show you a larger version of it. With any luck, you'll be able to make out the text in the larger version. There were some lovely and lively signs out that day!

People who went into DC for the big event have given varying impressions of the size of the crowd. Although one account included a comparison to a football field and an estimate that the crowd was very much larger than those at other events protesting this war, most felt it was no record-breaker. No descriptions of traffic, crowding on mass transportation, or head counts at carpooling locations suggest a record high number of people marched that day. So let's keep working on it.