Five Members Of Congress Arrested Protesting Outside Sudanese Embassy (VIDEO)

Five members of Congress and two Darfur activists had themselves arrested Monday outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., to draw attention to the continuing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Uniformed Secret Service officers put plastic handcuffs on Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), along with Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast after the group stepped behind yellow police tape in front of the embassy.

Before being taken into custody, each of the arrestees addressed a small crowd of reporters and other activists who had been tipped off about the event. Each speaker called on the Obama administration to do more to stop the conflict in Sudan.

"Almost a half a million people have been killed," said Rep. Lewis before crossing the line. "This terror, this violence must end and it must end soon."

After their statements, the gang lifted up the police tape and waited patiently (and quietly) for the police to arrest them. An officer issued three warnings before the cuffs came out. Officers frisked each of the lawbreakers and went through their pockets before stuffing them in a paddywagon and a cruiser.

The group met Monday morning at the Religious Action Center before marching the short distance to the embassy. As they went over their plan, some of the members put their wallets and other personal belongings into plastic bags. Ellison took the extra step of removing his shoelaces. The Huffington Post asked Ellison if he'd been arrested before.

"Not on something like this," he said.

The protesters had hired criminal defense attorney Laura Rhodes to get them out from behind bars. Rhodes seemed pretty confident in her game.

"For those of you anxious about going to jail, I've gotten people out who've killed people," she said.

UPDATE: Also arrested: Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism.

Get HuffPost Politics on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Comments

[foresight]

07:30 AM on 04/28/2009

America enforcing the Queens aggenda. Time to Break away from Britain again.

Our ancesters died for freedom from their ways. Be prepared to do it again.

[Rubyslippers]

11:04 PM on 04/27/2009

Proud of my Congresswoman for being there.

Read Samantha Power "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" for the story on the American response to genocide - Armenian, Cambodian, Bosnian, Rwandan, etc... Not a pretty story.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

07:45 PM on 04/27/2009

Were they protesting torture too or did they drop that one?

[doublels]

08:09 PM on 04/27/2009

One protest issue at a time is sufficient. Your boys left so much to protest...kinda hard to catch them all at once.

[doublels]

08:10 PM on 04/27/2009

One protest issue at a time is sufficient.

[doublels]

07:29 PM on 04/27/2009

Fellow bloggers...let's please ignore Mr. Dunder-head and strangerinthenight. They're just getting their jollies off and spewing the same rehashed, disproven junk as always. There's nothing of intelligence to even respond to.

[lynnn]

06:52 PM on 04/27/2009

I think it is funny, just bc many ppl (in and out of politics) don't really want to help Africans we are hurting ourselves.

Yesterday Israel took out a ship that was smuggling arms to Hamas via.... Sudan.. Bin Laden was in the Sudan when we had a chance to get him (in the 1990's). Israel and the U.S. have bombed factories they thought made weapons for terrorist... again in the Sudan. Jeez you don't think the Government of Sudan is actually doing anything else besides genocide? Not like Sudan is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Saudi fund for Africa.

It's funny we are hurting ourselves bc of our bigotry I guess that's Karma.

[raphaeljo]

08:29 PM on 04/27/2009

lynnn...you are AWARE....

[DMITC07]

06:36 PM on 04/27/2009

I'm generally supportive of the activists and lawmakers but their lawyer doesn't seem to understand the purpose of justice:
"For those of you anxious about going to jail, I've gotten people out who've killed people," she said.

[RachelMc]

08:17 PM on 04/27/2009

i know.. i wouldn't be braging on that. it is so not cute.

[Paulo1]

05:58 PM on 04/27/2009

This is why I love Democrats.

Remind me if I ever recover from the Bush Disaster enough to be able to afford it I need to contribute to their campaign funds

[stand by]

05:56 PM on 04/27/2009

Our Congress can get out and get arrested for helping out other countries,but yet we can't get them to get out of thier offices to help close the borders or get those addicted to drugs help besides throwing them in jail and watching thier lives be destroyed or even die and costing taxpayers way too much money for housing them in jail or prison.No doubt about it I do feel sorry for the ones over in the Darfur region of Sudan and I also feel sorry for the ones that are getting this Swine Flu disease,but they are a lot more people that die from addiction of drugs which is a disease,than what they are Swine Flu.So another words drug addiction is a epidemic also , right?

[vote-obama]

05:25 PM on 04/27/2009

you have the power to bring about positive change in Darfur.

visit www.savedarfur.org and see how you can help

[FairTalk]

05:18 PM on 04/27/2009

Not the only demonstration in DC today. Why are these congressmen not with their won peolpe chained to the White House Gates?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbaDh8Ywf-s

[vote-obama]

05:02 PM on 04/27/2009

to mr. ahmadinejad, instead of trying to comment on things which you clearly don't understand why don't you try fixing the mess in your country. thank u very much.

[Hank10303]

05:00 PM on 04/27/2009

There go those democrats again - protesting for human rights yet again. What is wrong with those people can't they be more like the "tea baggers" not one of them had an interest in anything but violence and hate.

[hapiguy]

04:56 PM on 04/27/2009

Seems the DEMS know what is right and just,,,,then there is the other Right,,,cowards

[madHenry]

04:54 PM on 04/27/2009

I lead a pretty pedestrian life. But if I am ever in need of an attorney, I want the one who can claim:

"For those of you anxious about going to jail, I've gotten people out who've killed people."

[BartLA]

04:42 PM on 04/27/2009

Somehow I missed the names of the Republican congressmen & women who were arrested....

Oh yeah, there weren't any. Guess they're busy trying to spin the debate over the "fact" they don't torture.

[Dunderslapoldmen]

04:48 PM on 04/27/2009

You didn't miss'em Bart...they were putting on the cuffs ! lol

[vote-obama]

04:55 PM on 04/27/2009

the fact that you choose to 'lol' about genocide says more about you than you seem to realize.

[Hank10303]

04:58 PM on 04/27/2009

GOOD ONE

[SantaFeConservative]

05:00 PM on 04/27/2009

The Republicans were obeying the law ... a concept a Democrat cannot fathom.

[RealPlumber]

05:26 PM on 04/27/2009

Except the one about torture, and oh yeah illegal wars, and oh yeah caring about the murder of hundreds of thousands, good law abiding "Christians" they all are.

[Wanjiru]

05:52 PM on 04/27/2009

Republicans and law...LMAO!!!

Let's see, illegal invasion of a soverign country, warrantless wiretapping, torture, illegal firing of US Attorneys, GITMO, etc, etc...

Ah, these law-abiding Republicans...LMAO!

.