Troopers Advance On Legislative Attendees
The Washington State Patrol was busy in our state’s capital was yesterday breaking up a protest staged by the Occupy movement and other groups. Hundreds of concerned education activists including many teachers gathered around the Capitol Building, where lawmakers were meeting in a special session to balance the state’s budget. Their message was clear: that further cuts to education would be illegal and immoral.
But police didn’t begin making arrests until the early evening hours. Hundreds of protesters attended the session and were present inside the Capitol rotunda, and some even brought their sleeping bags. Though the building closes to the public at 5:30pm, the protesters vowed to stay the night.
After numerous announcements ordering the protesters to leave, police began forcibly removing them from the rotunda around 7pm. Some of them were physically hauled away by police.
Three people received taser shots by police for allegedly trying to reenter the locked Capitol building. State Patrol troopers reportedly used the tasers because they were being advanced upon.
“Mic check!” yelled Jesse Hagopian, wearing a suit. “Mic check,” yelled back the teachers in red vests, who unfurled a banner that said: “Citizens aren’t the lawbreakers. Lawmakers who cut funding from schools are the lawbreakers.” And they chanted:
It is immoral
It is illegal
These cuts will hurt families
These cuts will hurt kids
These cuts will hurt educators
King county Superior Court judge
Ruled that these cuts are constitutionally illegal
The Constitution of Washington state reads it is the paramount duty to fully
Fund education
We therefore issue a citizens arrest of this Washington State Legislature
We call for taxing the rich
We call to fund the schools
About 30 of the protesters who had to be escorted out of the building were issued trespassing citations by police.