D.C. Mayor Vince Gray was freed from jail shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, about seven hours after Capitol Police arrested him while he and others were protesting federal control of the District’s spending.
Anger over congressional oversight over the spending of local tax dollars boiled over after President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) agreed to ban the city from spending local taxpayer dollars on abortions so they could reach a deal on a bill to keep the federal government open.
On Monday, Gray and a half-dozen D.C. Council members refused to leave Constitution Avenue near the Capitol Building in protest. They were all arrested on unlawful assembly charges.
Tuesday morning on WTOP radio, Gray said he has “absolutely no regrets” about being hauled away in handcuffs.
“It’s time for the people of this city to say enough is enough,” the mayor said. “People have to understand the District of Columbia is not a pawn in a political game.”
The fight for the District’s freedom from federal oversight has long focused on voting rights and statehood. But Gray said the first “goal ought to be the District gets to spend its own money.”
