Wednesday: Take Back K Street

by David Safier

A sketchy post here. I'll follow with photos and more information.

The entire Take Back the Capitol group split into about 6 marches. Arizona was on one with about, I'm guessing, 400 people, which seemed like the usual number. Our destination: K Street.

It rained steadily, from mild to reasonably heavy, but no monsoons. This is D.C., not S. AZ. We marched for about an hour and a half, chants led by people on the side with bullhorns (more on the chants in another post).

We ended up at K Street and 16th, across from the Hilton. The entire group filled the intersection. (I, on the other hand, being a blogger/observer, remained on the sidewalk. If there were going to be arrests, I wanted to report on them, not participate.) The mass of people wasn't quite back-to-back-and-belly-to-belly, but you couldn't stretch out your arms without poking others. A 75'x75' intersection, I'm thinking, 4 lanes wide. Filling that took a lot of people.

The police were around, watching quietly, unthreateningly.

Everyone was told to leave the intersection. The type of metal barrier used to block off a street was brought into the center of the intersection on a diagonal. Across it was a professionally made banner saying "99% Street." When people chanted, "Whose streets? Our streets!" this is what they were talking about.

Twenty designated people stood behind the sign, arms locked. They were the ones to be arrested. The police came in and did what they were supposed to do. The twenty were led to waiting police wagons and driven away. No clubs, no pepper spray, no inappropriate behavior from the police, or from the protesters. Both did what they were supposed to do, what the march organizers wanted them to do.

We walked back to the encampment. I'm in the Media Tent writing this. Reporter/blogger folks are sitting with their own laptops and phones at the Power Station. There are twenty other laptops anyone can use. The room is full right now, straining the wireless. It may take a little coaxing to get out this post.