CPTnet
28 July 2007
CHICAGO: CPTers call for end to Iraq war funding; eight arrested

On Monday, 23 July 2007 members of CPT's summer training group and
supporters held a mock trial, indicting Senator Dick Durbin's (D-IL) Iraq
war voting record. With "History" as the judge, participants called the
"Court of Public Opinion" to order at the Federal Building in downtown
Chicago.

Inside both the Senator's 38th floor office and the Federal Building lobby,
witnesses offered testimony regarding the Senator's votes for LIFE and for
WAR. Entering as evidence large photographs representing LIFE, witnesses
affirmed the Senator's stand against the use of force in Iraq in 2002 and
against the recent troop surge. However, images of the Iraq WAR's death and
destruction accompanied testimony that Senator Durbin has consistently voted
in favor of funding the war.

With President Bush's request for another $142 billion in supplemental war
funding coming before Congress, Judge "History" declared that court would
remain in session until all the evidence was heard. The Court agreed that a
signed statement by the Senator pledging to vote against further funding for
the war could be admitted. Participants waited but the evidence never came.

Meanwhile, in the plaza outside the Federal Building, supporters held
banners, distributed leaflets, and invited passersby to cast their own
votes. Out of fifty-eight ballots received, fifty-seven urged Senator
Durbin to vote against more money for war.

Participants appealed to Senator Durbin to use his leadership as Senate
Majority Whip and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee more
effectively to end the war. "If we stop the funding we will stop the war,"
said CPT trainee Rachel Cloud. "Then people like my brother won't have to
return to Iraq, to death and destruction. Senator Durbin has the power to
save U.S. and Iraqi lives."

After forty minutes, Chicago police arrived on the scene and arrested eight
CPT trainees carrying out their witness inside the building. They charged
the eight with criminal trespass (a misdemeanor) and transported them to
jail. All were released by 3:30 a.m. and will appear in court on 13 August
2007

CPT training participants who planned and participated in the witness were
Tarek Abuata (Bethesda, MD), Sally Ann Brickner (Green Bay, WI), Rachel
Cloud (Lawrence, KS), Charletta Erb (Chicago, IL), Jean Fallon (Maryknoll,
NY), Delycia Feustel (Lebanon, NH), Jessica Frederick (Jamestown, NY),
Joshua Hough (Talent, OR), Paulette Schroeder (Tiffin, OH), Martin
Smedjeback (Sunbyberg, Sweden), Fred Snyder (Lincoln, NB), Colin Stuart
(Ottawa, ON), and Jonathan Stucky (Bogotá, Colombia).