Protestors arrested outside White House A dozen D.C. residents were arrested outside the White House during a rally advocating for District voting rights and statehood.
The group was arrested on Saturday afternoon after they sat down next to each other on the sidewalk in front of the White House and linked arms, forming a line.
Park Police and Secret Service cleared the area and asked the group to disperse, but the protestors refused.
The police then proceeded to arrest the 12 protesters, and charged them with violating a law that prohibits stationary protests within 10 feet of the center panel of the wrought iron gate that surrounds the White House.
A total of 73 people — including the 12 who were hand-cuffed on Saturday — have been arrested during D.C. voting rights rallies since April.
Roughly 400 people attended the most recent rally, which included speeches by Mayor Vince Gray, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Councilmember Vincent Orange, D-At Large.
D.C. man strikes son, stomps on his back
A D.C. man was convicted of hitting his 14-year-old son in the face and stomping on his back.
Prosecutors would not release the name of the 60-year-old man in order to protect his son’s privacy.
Prosecutors say the man struck his son in the eye, on the nose and on the back of his head while the boy was on the phone with his grandmother. The boy fell to the floor, and the man stomped twice on his back. The teenager suffered two fractures to his skull.
The man was found guilty of first-degree cruelty to children in D.C. court on Friday and he now faces up to 15 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for September in D.C. Superior Court.
-Hayley Peterson
