Washington, DC – More than 1,000 protesters marched through the nation’s capital to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and almost 600 of them were arrested on Thursday afternoon in an office building at the U.S. Capitol (video below).
Hundreds of pro-immigration demonstrators called for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as they filled up the Hart Senate Office Building on June 28, protesting President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy, FOX News reported.
U.S. Capitol Police Spokeswoman Eva Malecki said officers had arrested 575 protesters for unlawfully demonstrating in the atrium of the office building.
Protesters had the option to peacefully demonstrate outside the Hart building without being arrested, police said. However, they chose to stop business in the building while they chanted slogans and waved signs.
Many covered themselves in the foil-like emergency blankets that have been showcased in pictures of immigrants in detention centers along the border.
Several Democratic members visited the demonstration, and a few briefly joined the sit-in that blocked the floor of the building’s huge lobby.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D – Washington) volunteered herself to be arrested with the other protesters, who were mostly women, and quickly took to social media afterwards to brag about her efforts.
“I’m proud to have been arrested with them. To put myself in the camp of people who believe that the United States of America,” Jayapal said in a video posted to twitter
U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D – Illinois) attracted lots of attention when she arrived at the protest with her new baby.
"I wanted to show my support for the folks here today," Duckworth told CNN. "I could only imagine what it would be like to have my daughter -- my breastfeeding child -- ripped away from me the way some of these other moms' babies have been."
You can see the demonstration inside the Hart Senate Office Building in the videos below:
