Anti-war protesters target Emanuel's office
A group of about 15 anti-war protesters barely fit inside the small lobby of U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel's Chicago office Friday. They arrived armed with four dozen white roses, 8-by-10 photographs of Americans and Iraqis killed during the war, and loud voices.
Their message: stop funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Headed by the Chicago-based anti-war group Voices for Creative Nonviolence, their goal was to persuade the representative not to vote for more war funding.
"This war is an abomination," protester Laurie Hasbrook said. "Opposition means taking decisive action, and [Emanuel] has not done that."
Congress is expected to take up the issue of supplemental funding for overseas military operations in the next few weeks. Emanuel, who is the Democratic caucus chair in the U.S. House of Representatives, is in a position to sway votes on legislation to allocate billions of additional dollars.
Emanuel was not at his district office, which is in the North Center neighborhood. But two of his caseworkers talked to the protesters for about 10 minutes, telling them he cares deeply about the lives at stake.
"One of the things that Rahm has done is, he has a photograph of each person who has been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan [at his Washington, D.C., office]," said Jane Markham, one of the caseworkers on Emanuel’s staff.
She added that Emanuel has drawn heat from other legislators for having the photo gallery, but that Emanuel keeps it up because he thinks it is an important reminder.
Protesters were hoping to speak with each member of Emanuel's staff and present them with white roses, a symbol of a student protest group in Nazi Germany called The White Rose, some of whom were indicted and executed during World War II. But other staff members declined to come out of the office to take the flowers.
"We absolutely recognize and honor [the protesters'] passion, and so does our boss," Markham said, referring to Emanuel.
Voices for Creative Nonviolence is part of a nationwide effort called the Occupation Project, which says it plans to continue holding rallies until U.S. troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
The local group's leaders said their efforts are bipartisan, and they plan to organize a walk starting July 12 from Chicago to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
This wasn't the first time protesters have gathered at Emanuel's office to voice opposition to the war. In January, Chicago police arrested five members of the anti-war group Christian Peacemaker Teams on trespassing charges. All were later released and charges against them dropped. One of the five protesters arrested in January, Dan Gerber, 65, attended Friday’s demonstration as well.
No one was arrested during Friday's demonstration, which lasted about two hours. The protesters left behind photos, roses and a sign with the names of Illinoisans killed in the wars.
"We have a grievance that's almost beyond our own ability to absorb it," said Kathy Kelly, a co-coordinator of the group.
Kelly said she is hopeful something comes from the protests.
"They take our documents, and I like to think they take it into consideration," she said.