Multiple protesters stripped naked in Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) office on Tuesday afternoon to protest possible cuts to AIDS research.
{mosads}The protest occurred in Boehner’s office in the Longworth House Office Building, not the Speaker’s office where he works in the Capitol. Boehner’s office confirmed that he was not in the office at the time.
A spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police said that three protesters were arrested, all female. They are charged with lewd and indecent acts based on D.C.’s disorderly conduct code.
There were seven protesters in total, three women and four men. Several protesters had the word “AIDS” painted on their bodies, according to reports and photos shared on Twitter.
The protest lasted more than 10 minutes, until Capitol Police warned protesters that they would be arrested if they did not get dressed and leave the office. Reporters from BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo and others who were in the office at the time had plenty of time to snap explicit photos of the nude protesters.
“Boehner, Boehner, don’t be a d–k, budget cuts will make us sick,” they chanted. “The budget cuts are really rude, that’s why we have to be so lewd.”
Another chant included a line typically associated with the activist organization ACT Up, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power: “People with AIDS are under attack. What do we do? Act up, fight back, fight AIDS.”
The protest group included JNL_live, a livestreaming project known for documenting Occupy Wall Street protests, and others in the hallway held a banner for VOCAL New York, a coalition of progressive activists.
— Updated at 2:24 p.m.