Swanson: Activists at Bush Ranch Out of Jail

10:45 a.m. CT Saturday – I just spoke with Barbara Cummings, the most powerful activist in San Diego. She was standing in front of the Crawford Peace House, in Crawford, Texas, as six jerks on horses, calling themselves the Horse Brigade, rode back and forth out front shouting nasty comments, including their opposition to Barbara's Impeach Bush shirt.

Barbara and 13 others were released from Waco County Jail at 7 p.m. CT last night. They'd been in there for seven and a half hours, while 22 others from Camp Casey protested outside and generated lots of supporting honks from the cars. There are hundreds at Camp Casey, outside Bush's ranch, for Easter – enough to apparently persuade Bush to celebrate bunnies, eggs, and the resurrection of his savior at Camp David instead of at his house.

The 14 arrested included 8 veterans, one of them a disabled Iraqi vet, and 6 grandmothers. "It was amazing," said Barbara, "to see veterans and grandmothers arrested, while George Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are running loose killing people.

Eight of the 14, including Daniel Ellsberg, had been arrested last Thanksgiving and charged with obstructing a highway and with felonious trespassing. They staged a demonstration at the court house the day before yesterday demanding that those charges be brought to a trial or dropped. This time, the 14 were charged only with obstructing a highway.

They were forced to strip naked, communally, women in one room, men in another, and made to shower and scrub for lice. Then they were dressed in reusable jail underwear and striped jail suits. I guess we should be glad that Rumsfeld wasn't there with any kinky fetishes or dogs.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/10175

To get out, they had to post $1,000 bond each. A court appearance is set for May 24, but Barbara didn't think there was much chance it wouldn't be endlessly postponed. For one thing, the charge is obstructing a highway, and nobody was in a highway. The charge is a class B misdemeanor.

Reports on yesterday's arrests:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/10124

Reports from location with video:
http://www.truthout.org/easterincrawford.shtml

ENDS

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