Police Arrest Protesters in Hart
Capitol Police arrested six protesters in the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Officers responded to reports of demonstrators in the building’s atrium and on the second and third floors. They were observed chanting, yelling and “loudly reciting prepared statements,” according to the police report.
Police observed one man “yell and chain himself to a railing” near Room 219, where the Senate Intelligence Committee had scheduled a closed hearing on pending intelligence matters for 2:30 p.m.
Also arrested before the hearing on Tuesday afternoon: two females protesting on the second floor, one female protesting on the third floor and two males protesting in the atrium.
A video posted to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon by Slate’s Dave Weigel could explain the mayhem. It shows a man shouting “Close Guantanamo” into the atrium from the second floor of Hart.
According to a statement from the department, the six were transported to Capitol Police headquarters on D Street Northeast for processing.