Civil Disobedience Swarming the Senate #Remove45 #TrumpIsGuilty #SwarmTheSenate

Taking  a bust for our democracy. 

Photo by Ken Schles in Washington DC.

Caption by  Ken Schles: "House members vote to send articles of impeachment against Trump to Senate, approve seven Democrats to serve as prosecutors in trial. House to send articles to Senate to begin trial. Ukraine prosecutor offered information related to Biden [in exchange] for ambassador’s ouster. Analysis: New evidence that Trump sought personal benefit in Ukraine.Action planned for tomorrow hosted by @womensmarch @remove_trumpnow and @bytheppl with support from @cpdaction and others :: Take non-violent direct action in DC on Thursday, January 16. Meet on the East Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, across from the Supreme Court, First Street NE and Maryland Avenue NE, Washington DC 20543 (for those interested there is a training tonight at the Luther Place Memorial Church 1226 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005 from 6-9pm)."

"Jackie Rudin writes:Remove Trump banner drop today at the Hart Senate Office Building during Impeachment proceedings! Myra Slotnick, Laurie Arbeiter, Linda M. Benjamin Heim Shepard + seven arrested while unfurling #TheArticlesOfImpeachment and continuing to Swarm The Senate! Because #WeWillNotBeSilent!Photo: George De Castro Day - Remove45.org #TrumpIsGuilty"

Laurie Arbeiter photo and caption:

"Conversation Starter · January 12 at 8:36 PM

WE SEE THE LIARS COMING

WE HEAR THE LIARS LYING

Our power can grow with our numbers. This is the eleventh hour. If you can, this is the time to come to Washington DC in defiance, to not let them get away with letting Trump get away. Converge on the Senate and demand that Trump be removed from office.

This is historic... make it count... the power of the people.

Join us in DC"

"Margo Gregory is at Washington, DC, USA. January 17 at 6:59 PM · Being incarcerated is horrifying and dehumanizing. During every moment of incarceration one is so boldly aware of being bound and completely controlled by other human beings, and by a system of violence and domination. Here I am in DC yesterday getting out of jail after the Swarm The Senate civil disobedience. I urge anyone interested in preserving real direct democracy to go to DC this weekend for the Women’s March or attend the Women’s March here in NYC. There is power in numbers, power from below, power of the people, power in right action and integrity. See you in the streets. I love you. 🖤 Photo by Ken Schles with Benjamin Heim Shepard"

Benjamin Heim Shepard is in Washington D.C 

photo by Margo  Gregory 

Having fun in DC!

"If you fear for our country and want something better, join us Thursday. If not now When?"

Ken, Margo and I meet in the Gowanus at 7 AM for our second to trip to DC together this year.

We’ve been there dozens of times together over the last few years, well Ken and I have.

 

Lev Parnas’ interview on the Rachel Maddow show the night before has thrown the impeachment trial into even more disarray.

 

“Its just too close to call,”  says Ken, thinking outload.

“If we’re passive, there’s gonna be nothing left to defend.”

 

It’s an odd drive.

We’re not sure  where we are going. 

Fog fills the road as  we drive down Union Street on the way out of town.

Have you ever been to Peru I ask.

 

Yes.

 

Ken tells a story of a magazine shoot there, chasing waves that are not forming, navigating stories that not quite coming, meeting Peruvians with German accents, whose parents no doubt fled after  the war.  A man points a gun at Ken, not quite sure where the story is going.
But he keeps on going.

 

We have the same feeling driving to DC.

I’m still  reading Don Quixote.

 

The senate is beginning the impeachment trial for the president.

 

Most of the Republican leadership had already gone on record as saying they have already made up their minds to acquit, without hearing a single witness.

 

Activists plan to disrupt this storyline, narratives crashing.   

 

We plan to join the No War With Iran - Remove Trump!

Action organized by Women's March and Remove Trump and By the People:

 

“Women’s March and our allies are joining together to demand that Congress stop Trump from going to war with Iran, and we need your help. We know Trump's actions speak louder than words and we have to be vigilant with this administration.  Take non-violent direct action in D.C. on Thursday, January 16 to call for peace and break the cycle of endless war. Meet on the East lawn of the Capitol, across from the Supreme Court• First St NE and Maryland Ave NE, Washington D.C., DC 20543. DIRECT ACTION TRAINING - January 15^th

If you’re interested in participating in the direct action on Thursday, please join our mass DIRECT ACTION TRAINING on WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15TH to go over the action plan, get all the legal details, and help organize to stop this war.
Here are the details for the training:
What: Mass Nonviolent Direct Action Training
When: Wednesday, January 15th, 6pm-9pm
Where: Luther Place Memorial Church, 1226 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005
If you aren’t sure yet about whether you want to participate in the direct action portion of the action, don’t worry - there is a role for everyone.”

 

We stop at the Walt Whitman rest stop, before making our way into town.

 

Arriving in DC, we  run into my friend Jessica, from Occupy the Pipeline and Sane Energy Project on her way home.

Others are just getting there.

Some have been there all week.   

Christine Rudas Ingles is standing  at the Capital, wearing a pink hat.

 “There  is no ego in resistance,” she declares, referring to her days here taking part on the #SwarmtheSenate actions over the previous week.

“We all have to work together.”

I didn’t realize how prophetic her words were  at  the time.

The Women’s March people are mulling about, getting  organized.

There is Media Benjamin from Code  Pink.

How was your week I ask?

Not too fun trying to push back a war, she replies.

“I wanna watch Trump’s removal,” explains Heather. “Its gonna be an exciting year.”

I certainly hope so.

I’m not sure the Senate is prepared to do  anything but a show trial, not unlike the “investigation” that precluded interviews with significant witnesses to Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct allegations before he was confirmed.

Rubber stamped.

It’s a cover sup says Laurie.

It’s a cover up.

But we’re here to remind the world that the Constitution matters.

The climate matters.

I don’t want to leave my kids a world without choice or a a planet that is uninhabitable.

Policies matter.

Democracy matters.

Laws  matter.

I run into Lisa Fithian, whose been organizing the Swarm the Senate for the last two weeks.

She gives me a "Trump is Guilty" sticker.

You have a sound bite, I ask.

“Fuck Trump,” she gushes.

“Trump is guilty.

He should we removed.

He is a danger to us all.”

Nancy says Trump is impeached for life.

But its up to us to remove him.

Why are you  here, I ask Becky from Tennessee.

She is sitting in a wheelchair. 

“Trump sucks,” she replies, shivering. 

Its cold out.

No one knows what they are doing, says Christine.

Only a hundred or so of us are there.

Finally, some  of the organizers with Women’s March circle everyone up.

“Trump is unfit to serve,” says a woman holding  a megaphone.

“This is a time to be really focused.

No one wants our kids in cages on the border.
Or for our girls to grow up in a world without Roe v Wade.

Yet, he moves forward.  We may not be here for the same

reason but it doesn’t matter.

Look around.

There is no cavalry coming.

Its up to us to save us.

Look to direct action and legislative solutions,
Kaine’s war powers resolution.

“We impeached Trump because he’s dangerous.

We need congress to remove him.

Every day he’s in office is a danger.

When the people lead, congress follows.

We need to  take action.”

A group of people planning to get arrested circle up on one side.

Those not getting arrested  are  on  the other.

One of the women from the Women’s March says they support us doing

Direct action but  cannot provide jail or legal support.

Half the people in the circle walk away.

Without support civil disobedience is untenable.

Some  of us walk  to the Russell Senate office building.

The others make it to the Hart.

Through the security, down the hall.

You can’t walk here says security.

We take the elevator. 

At the Russell rotunda, we unfold the Remove Trump banner.

And start chanting.

As soon as the police move in, all the women from the Women’s March leave.

Everyone leaves.

What about the police who did civil disobedience training I wonder,

or the women with the megaphones cheering us on.

Its just a few veterans and people I know from the Kavanaugh fight standing  there holding  the banner.

The police start to pull the banner away.

Becky from Tennessee rolls her wheelchair onto the banner to stop them.

The veterans stand there.

The police warm us we will be arrested  if  we stay.

We gotta do something, I’ve been thinking all day long.

Six of us, including the three veterans, stay.

In jail, the news reports 11 arrests all told:

“Police arrested 11 people during “remove Trump” demonstrations on Capitol Hill as the Senate accepted impeachment articles from the House.  Some of the protesters standing in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building were wearing black shirts with white letters. When they stood side-by-side, their bodies spelled out the words “remove Trump,” which is also the name of a group affiliated with the Women’s March and other liberal organizations. Although they initially stood silently in the rotunda, the group began to chant and unfurled a large black flag that also bore the words “Remove Trump.”

“Some of the demonstrators also managed to make their way into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office. While at the Kentucky Republican’s office, some people stood outside and wore shirts that spelled out the word “recuse.”

According to the Hill, six people were arrested at the Russell Building at about 1 p.m., and five more were arrested in the atrium of the Hart Building a while later. All were booked on charges of crowding, obstructing, or incommoding at the offices.”

Why are you getting arrested, asks one of the reporters, snapping a photo.

Because the constitution matter.

The emoluments clause matters.

Democracy matters.

Our kids need a  future.

Outside the police process us.

Putting  cuffs on tight,

Searching us,

Taking us across the street to holding cells.

How many times have you been arrested here they ask.

Once last year.

If its more, we’ll keep you over night, they tell me.

I look at the ceiling in the holding cell.

After the waves of civil disobedience  during the Kavanaugh hearings, the Healthcare, and Tax Bill fights, the city created new rules curtailing civil disobedience.

The police tell us as much.

Inside the holding cells, the two veterans talk about why they are doing this.

A half century after serving in Vietnam, the legacy still lings.

Post traumatic stress remains.

Nightmares.

“Our reception back was  horrible,” notes one, referring  to their  days they returned.

“I had to take military service off my resume.

Every time anyone saw it, I lost the jobs I was looking for.

I wish I had just had the courage not to go.

But the pressure to serve, the punishment for not serving,

that felt  like too much.

This is the final nail in the coffin of American moral standing in the world, notes the other, referring to the Trump forays into foreign policy.

Inside the cell, I see  the other arrestees arriving.

One of our friends  was arrested for taking a photo.

Others  for hanging the banners in  the Hart Office Building.

Some of get post and forfeit tickets.

I have to go back to DC for trial.

The explanations of the new arrest policy are always changing.

But finally I get out.

Jail  support cheers, Lisa and Ken  and LAK there to give  a hug.

There is nothing like a cheer and greetings when you get out of jail.

I’m not sure what else to do right now to get the world to listen,

Although it feels like silent screams.

More and more spaces prohibit speech.

You can’t wear T shirts

Or speak.

The punishments for protest  are escalating.

Repression increasing.

And access to democracy feels limited.

Driving home, we stop for a break in a rest stop,

Looking up at  the stars.

One of the starts in Orion is turning  into a super nova.

I think that’s it, says Ken, pointing at the Dimming Red Giant in Orion's Shoulder.

There  is Betelgeuse, one of the-brightest.

The  night sky skimmers in the crisp light.  

And we drive back to Brooklyn.

Scenes from a day of  direct action and  solidarity.  

Photos by Ken Schles.

Scenes from a road trip to DC. 

This blogger  with Ken Schles and  Margo Gregory.

Ken writes: "We drove to DC and back that day. Besides the insanity of what we were doing, besides the stress and hope of it all, was at least ten hours of driving with breaks thrown in to refuel and pee. The winds were blowing the car out of lane. We pulled off to stop at a rest area to take a break. B was tired. It had been a long day. He’d gotten locked up. Never not a stressful situation, but this time it seriously looked like he’d be held shackled in a cell overnight. They wanted names and addresses. People that could “vouch” for him. M had gotten locked up too. Grabbed from behind. It’s one thing to be arrested when you plan on it. It’s one thing when you psychologically gird yourself knowing you’d be handcuffed and immobilized for hours, knowing people will be waiting for you on the other side. But not this time. I didn’t even realize she was on the inside. I thought she just wandered off. “Being incarcerated is horrifying *and* dehumanizing. During every moment of incarceration one is so boldly aware of being bound and completely controlled by other human beings — and [in] a system of violence and domination,” M wrote afterwards. And the driving in the darkness. We left before dawn as it was getting light. Here we are returning well after nightfall. The rest area was gated. We pulled into a gravel and dirt lot across the way, tractor trailers scattered throughout the encampment still, dark and seemingly abandoned. There were people sleeping here. It wasn’t all quiet and deadness. We stepped into a cold bracing wind and looked up to see the constellation Orion pinned to the sky. “They say Betelgeuse is about to go supernova,” I said. “And maybe it already has. Only we haven’t seen it yet.” We don’t know. And we won’t know until after. What we see now is from 642.5 years ago. The disjunction, the fatigue, the arbitrary cruelty of the cops, the invisible sleepers, they all seemed a metaphor of where this country has fallen. Was this democracy lost? I think in retrospect we’ll be able to pinpoint the dates exactly, tracking its decline towards fascist oligarchy. But now it’s hard to say whether it’s already lost. And most everyone’s asleep. Maybe the light’s already gone out. Maybe it’s already blown.

Sometimes it feels like everything is getting erased. And maybe it is and that’s just how things operate: Feedback loops of erasure and destruction. The past recedes. Memories fade into nothing. Stars explode. Lives disappear: Experiences lost forever. What we once took for granted is gone. A billion animals in Australia. But not just Australia. The insect apocalypse. 60% of the birds. 2/3 of all fauna. The coral reefs. Everything changes. Even the sky isn’t the same. In cities you can’t see the stars anymore. You don’t even notice when they’ve disappeared because you never knew them to begin with.

Remove Trump CPD Action Women's March #removetrump #removetrumptrial We Will Not Be Silent photo by M

Sometimes it feels like everything is getting erased. And maybe it is and that’s just how things operate: Feedback loops of erasure and destruction. The past recedes. Memories fade into nothing. Stars explode. Lives disappear: Experiences lost forever. What we once took for granted is gone. A billion animals in Australia. But not just Australia. The insect apocalypse. 60% of the birds. 2/3 of all fauna. The coral reefs. Everything changes. Even the sky isn’t the same. In cities you can’t see the stars anymore. You don’t even notice when they’ve disappeared because you never knew them to begin with.

Remove Trump CPD Action Women's March #removetrump #removetrumptrial We Will Not Be Silent photo by M
 — with Margo Gregory and Benjamin Heim Shepard."