Five Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested yesterday outside the Iowa campaign headquarters of presidential contender Ron Paul as the group rallied in its continued protest against Republican candidates and President Obama.
Trespassing was the charge the five individuals were cited for; they were later released. They were cited following their refusal to leave Paul’s campaign office in the Des Moines suburb of Ankeny.
Just a day ago, seven other Occupy protesters were arrested outside Republican Mitt Romney’s Des Moines headquarters, and Occupy spokeswoman Danielle Ryun felt more would come. “They’re all going to get equal play on this. We are very disillusioned with every candidate,” she was quoted as saying in the usatoday.com article.
The protests are part of an Occupy the Caucuses effort launched this week in Des Moines, attracting activists from all over the nation. Scores of them have promised to interrupt campaign activities.
Ryun said the protesters would be going to the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines later Thursday and to other Republican candidate offices Friday.
Eight protesters were arrested at the state Democratic Party offices on Dec. 19. Ryan said protesters would try to get into the offices againocc Thursday.
Lt. Ben Bowersox, an Ankeny police spokesman, said as many as 15 protesters were at the Paul headquarters. They were told to move to a public sidewalk nearby or face arrest. All but the five moved to the sidewalk.
He said police received a call from a nearby store operator in the strip mall where the Paul office is located.
Ryun said the goal is not to be arrested but since campaign officials won’t listen to them, protesters are willing to be arrested to get their message across. “It would be great if we could show up, issue our concerns and have the candidates acknowledge us and change their platform,” she was quoted as saying.
According to information at OccupyWallSt.org, the Occupy movement is the unofficial de facto online resource for the growing occupation movement happening on Wall Street and around the world. It is an affinity group committed to doing technical support work for resistance movements. It is not a subcommittee of the NYCGA nor affiliated with Adbusters, anonymous or any other organization.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.