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Anti-War Protesters Target Nancy Pelosi
A few dozen peace activists marched across the Golden Gate Bridge and gathered outside the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday, demanding that Congress stop funding the war in Iraq. "San Francisco has been against this war from the very beginning," said Toby Blome, a physical therapist who organized the event. "This is our fifth year of the war, and Nancy needs to wake up and represent San Franciscans."
Blome, holding a plate of cheese and bread and a glass of wine, was stopped on her way to Pelosi's front door and told the speaker would not see them. Blom and about 10 other activists said they plan to camp outside the residence overnight.
"Speaker Pelosi shares the concerns of the protesters about the disastrous war in Iraq. The Speaker has put the House of Representatives on course to chart a new direction for the American people and the war in Iraq," said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill, in a statement.
"Led by the Speaker, Democrats have put forward legislation that will measure the Iraqi government's actions by the standards President Bush himself set, conforms deployment of our troops to existing military standards for readiness and provides badly needed help to an overburdened military and veterans' medical system wracked by scandal."
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Hammill would not say whether Pelosi was home Sunday or not.
The rally is the most recent "occupation" activists have staged in lawmakers' offices on Capitol Hill and in their home communities. U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel's office in Chicago was targeted on Thursday, and peace activists dressed in pink showed up recently at the Senate offices of presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Other recent protest targets include Reps. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and David Obey of Wisconsin and Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. All four Democrats voted against the 2002 measure authorizing the war.
On Wednesday, about 20 demonstrators gathered outside Pelosi's San Francisco office - but before they could enter, a staff member ushered the group down to a conference room seven floors below, where many voiced frustration that Pelosi was not being aggressive enough in seeking an end to the war.
"They're continuing to fund the war, and it's ridiculous if you say you're against the war to keep funding it," Blome, a 51-year-old El Cerrito resident, said of congressional Democrats. "It's shocking how little the Democrats are doing to stop this war." After crossing San Francisco's scenic span, protesters arrived at Pelosi's Pacific Heights home around 4 p.m. They say they will sit, stand, sing, chant, pray, ring bells and read letters from American troops sent home to their families - tactics used in similar events with other politicians.
Organizers count more than 140 arrests so far nationwide. Most involve charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
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