Unbelievable Vid of 50 Peaceful Demonstrators Against Torture Arrested - at White House

I thought we had a right to Peacefully Demonstrate, did Congress pass a new bill against it? Where are our "Bill of Rights" what has happened to Freedom of Speech?

Here is a video of people peacefully demonstrating yesterday 4/30/09 in front of the White House against Torture. They were not yelling screaming or anything. They were standing in orange shirts with black hoods in front of the White House.

They were asking for accountablity of the Torture committed by the United States.

On Thursday, April 30, 2009, in a massive act of non-violent "Civil Resistance" over 50 activists were arrested at a protest action in front of the White House. The protesters refused to move from the sidewalk when ordered to do so by the police. The activists were demanding that the administration of President Barack Obama uphold the supremacy of the Law and investigate and prosecute wrongdoers in the Bush-Cheney Gang responsible for "acts of torture." The demonstration was sponsored by the "Witness Against Torture" group. It also charged that many of the most egregious torture policies carried out by the Bush-Cheney Gang "remain in place" For the latest details on "Witness Against Torture," its purpose, and the exact number of protesters arrested at the event, along with the charges placed against the defendants, etc., see:
www.100dayscampaign.org...
For more on "Civil Resistance," go to my review of Professor Francis A. Boyles book, "Protesting Power: War, Resistance and Law," at:
baltimore.indymedia.org...
For background on the torture cases, torture memos, and more, see:

The above was on the youtube site for explaination of the video.

I find this amazing considering how peaceful they were.

What is happening - I thought we were going to get change now? Where is change - certainly not the right to peacefully raise our voices!

It sounds like they violated the terms of their permit to assemble. As such it was revoked. However, I have to side with the fact that you shouldn't need a permit when assembling peacefully anywhere. A very good video of what any peaceful protest could look like.

I believe our founding fathers accepted the belief that freedom of assembly in public went without saying. How else would you effect change, but in the public eye. Our courts have decided differently and as such the right to assemble in a public place is limited.

Thank you for posting this .

Very sad times we live in and one cant help but wonder what will be next .

Sad thing is that a lot of people simply do not care and will not care until its there rights being targeted . Sad thing is by that time all of those people that would have normally stood by there side to defend them will already be locked up .

I guess that they might not have had a permit to "demonstrate."

That being said it is our 'right' to peacefully assemble...however, the wording of the report said that they 'blocked the sidewalk.'

Is it wrong to arrest them...yes.

It seems that Obama's crowd is trying to push him towards going after the previous administration.

Blocked the sidewalk from what? A tank convoy? There was plenty of room there and that was just an excuse to get rid of them.
Peacefull protest dont work, the law enforcement has more than plenty of laws they can pervert to stop them.

I agree, there is no sign saying "not allowed on sidewalk" - that was one of the most unbelievable arrest of people totally peacefully demonstrating, having their voices heard silently.

The reason they have to permit gatherings in DC is so the logistics can be arranged for people to get around DC. DC is an extremely congested city and is not easy to get around on the best day. This time of year it is tourist season and it is chaos.

They take this information and give it to the federal employees so they know to make other arrangements to get around. When they don't it can block people from getting to work for hours.

it has nothing to do with preventing people from protesting, it is so the city can keep moving without interruption.

Protests in front of the house don't make much sense either. There is only a metal gate in front of the WH. For safetey reasons, it doesn't make sense to let large mobs to gather to storm it.

plus millions of tourists all over the world visit it each year, and they should be allowed access to see it.

What a bunch of hapless folks.

They refused to follow a few basic rules regarding demonstrations at the White House.

They refused to disperse when they were informed that they would be arrested if they did not.

And, what is worse, they were protesting against a country that does not and has not used torture.

Obviously, they intended to get arrested and they were accommodated by the authorities.

are those people also going to protest in front of the white house after the usa stops those ways of getting info from terrorists and the usa gets terror attacks and roadside bombs on its own ground?

If people who we know have had training at terror camps in afghanistan and pakistan and are now entering our nations we have to follow them and if the threat is to great we have to take them in and get info out of them.
we all forget that those people in guantanomo bay have had training in how to deal with pain and how to act when being heared by cia or other people.

people who grew up in a country like Iran or afghanistan have a higher treshhold for pain and suffering so using ways of getting info out of them is harder then out of a western suspect whom are easier intimidated.
using more force and harder ways is there for neccassery ... eventhough it looks hard and aggressive for us because we are not used to see those kind of things .

Beautiful Courageous People!

What a classy demonstration!

My heart goes out to these wonderful Americans - They are now registered as criminals right?

What a shame

The hypocrisy is overwhelming, humanitarians, peace workers, people who are trying to evolve the human species - scapegoated at every turn.



I psychically direct my anger at the source of all evil. I spend my day in positive manner but take time out to focus sharp intention back to its source - like reverse meditation

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
What a bunch of hapless folks.

They refused to follow a few basic rules regarding demonstrations at the White House.

They refused to disperse when they were informed that they would be arrested if they did not.

And, what is worse, they were protesting against a country that does not and has not used torture.

Obviously, they intended to get arrested and they were accommodated by the authorities.

Hapless folks? And what are you doing to remind the government of basic human rights?

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
And, what is worse, they were protesting against a country that does not and has not used torture.

I'd like to see you say that in the face of american POW's who were waterboarded etc.

reply to post by HulaAnglers


They probably will not just be seen as people that were arrested, I would bet they are now on a "terrorist list" in the U.S.

It seems people who demonstrate against what the govt has done are now seen as domestic terrorist.

Even the people in the wheel chairs who were courageous enough to be part of the demonstration.

Maybe if they abide by their permit, they wouldn't have been arrested? Non violent, I don't care, they violated their permit..

IMO, it's just ignorance.

I also find it fascinating more people show up to protect a few enemy combatants from getting wet, than to protect our own national security by protesting Socialization.

Simply fascinating.

No pity for these fools.

And if no one caught it, this was provocation to get the police to arrest them to fuel the propaganda of "us vs them" .. police are viewed as the bad guys even though it was the people in orange acting like 3 year olds.

[edit on 5/2/2009 by Rockpuck]

I've been at the White House when people have shown up to protest. They are allowed as long as they KEEP MOVING. They are not allowed to stand still in front of the White House and protest. I've seen the cops in front of the White House (North Side) move lots of people along ...

It's standard procedure.

The protesters weren't following the rules.
They got arrested. It's just that simple.

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Pretty straight forward.

reply to post by questioningall


A few posters here seem to agree with their fate! I don't

It must be frustrating for you sometimes dearest questioningall - Thank You for Being!

reply to post by janon


They weren't stopped from their right to peacefully assemble and they weren't stopped from having freedom of speech.

Due to obvious common sense security concerns they had to follow certain rules while protesting in the place they picked to protest.

They didn't follow the rules.
They got arrested. (which was probably what the protesters wanted)

It's really rather simple and straight forward.

With the Constitution comes responsibility for your actions. You have the right to freedom of speech, assembly etc.. but you cannot disrupt the public, purposefully pose a hazardous risk, break community laws/ or infringe on anyone elses rights.

These people broke their permit, they get arrested..

And note, the arrest was only after they where asked repeatedly to MOVE along. They where never told to cease and desist, just to move.

I'd love to know how they "disrupted the public", "purposefully posed a hazardous risk" or "infringe on anyone elses rights"? I mean if they in fact had been moving along would all these things be secure? As I said the law goons have ways of perverting rules so they can get rid of protesters easily.

Flyersfan: What security concers were those? A moving protester is less of thread than a stationary one? You might as well justify their arrest by claiming that they were contributing to global warming.