Sit In Underway at Speaker Pelosi's Office in DC

Nancy Pelosi is on her way to Lebanon, but her staff may want to get her on the phone. Or then again, maybe not. There is a sit-in underway in her Capitol Hill office today, Friday, March 30th, with military families and Iraq vets requesting to schedule an appointment to talk to her. They've been asking for four months now for her to agree to meet with gold star and military families, veterans for peace, Iraq vets, and active duty troops. Pelosi proposed a meeting with military mom Tina Richards after a video came out showing Rep. David Obey yelling at her in the hallway, but once the video had made the news in a major way Pelosi apparently decided it was too late to head it off and lost interest in meeting with Richards.

Today Tina Richards is sitting in Pelosi's office, commited to not leaving unless she is arrested. She has never been arrested before. Tina and Lori Perdue just phoned in a report. There are 11 people there at the moment as part of the sit-in. They had 22 earlier, but half left to go recruit more people. They're planning to pack the office by 4 or 5 p.m.They expect it to close around 5 or 6 p.m.

They say that all they're asking for is an appointment for a meeting. Tina's son is a Marine who has struggled to get any sort of health care out of the military. He recently thought he had finally succeeded in that effort, but the military has decided to prosecute him for wearing part of his uniform in a march on the Pentagon, meaning that he faces the loss of medical benefits and possible imprisonment.

Updates to come.

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PRESS RELEASE
Grassroots America, VotersForPeace, & Democracy Rising

Conflict Escalating Between Marine Mom and Speaker:

Tina Richards Refuses to Leave Speaker Pelosi’s Office Until She Gets an Answer: “Will you meet with military families, vets and troops?”

Speaker Will Be Forced to Choose Today: Arrest Marine Mom or Meet with Military Families

Washington, DC: Today, Tina Richards, the mother of a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq and is now 80% disabled, is refusing to leave the office of Speaker Pelosi in Washington, DC (Canon 235) today until she gets an answer -- “Will you meet with military families, vets and troops?”

“I am tired of being given the run-around from the Speaker. Two weeks ago before I went on national television her office called urging a meeting. Now that the media has moved on she refuses to respond to my requests while always promising to do so. I decided today that I will not leave her office until I either get a meeting scheduled or am told there will not be a meeting,” said Richards.

Ms. Richards has said she is willing to risk arrest rather than not get a response from the Speaker. The Speaker will have to decide whether she will provide a Marine mom with a courtesy of an answer or have her arrested for trying to schedule a meeting.

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