By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Hundreds of protesters, many of whom were elderly, were arrested outside the Capitol on Monday. They are part of a group called Democracy Spring which protesting big money in politics.
The Democracy Spring website says, “American elections are dominated by billionaires and big money interests who can spend unlimited sums of money on political campaigns to protect their special interests at the general expense. Meanwhile, as the super-rich dominate the 'money primary' that decides who can run for office, almost half of the states in the union have passed new laws that disenfranchise everyday voters, especially people of color and the poor.”
WATCH: Dozens of protesters arrested at US Capitol during #DemocracySpring demonstration against gov't corruption.https://t.co/CFUAPwVQfD
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) April 11, 2016
The U.S. Capitol Police released a statement on Monday evening about the arrests saying, "More than 400 individuals have been arrested for unlawful demonstration activity, and are being processed using mass arrest procedures." Although the protests were calm and orderly, the statement said those arrested would be charged with "crowding, obstructing and incommoding."
The campaign began on April 2 in Philadelphia, and participants marched nearly 150 miles south to Washington. Rallies and events have been scheduled through the weekend in an effort to "draw attention to our corrupt campaign finance system and rigged voting laws," the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) said on Monday.
Hundreds of elders marching on US Capitol for #DemocracySpring in #DC, dozens risking arrests pic.twitter.com/FOnRDpGWAv
— Paulina Leonovich (@Polly_evro) April 12, 2016
"We believe this is the people's house, and Congress should be responsive to the people. We need to protect voting rights," the group's communications coordinator Peter Callahan said. Supporters of the group include actor Mark Ruffalo and academic Noam Chomsky and dozens of other well known activist groups.
Co-founder of the PCCC, Adam Green, was among those arrested on Monday. "Today, I join others in non-violent civil disobedience in order to help focus the nation's conversation on these key democracy issues -- and the public needs politicians to start acting now," he said in a statement.
Here’s what Jesse Ventura and Larry Lessig have to say about getting money out of politics:
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