Grassley staffers granted legal counsel in case regarding war protesters

The Senate passed a resolution Monday by unanimous consent granting two of Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) staffers legal representation in a case involving anti-war protesters in one of his Iowa offices.

Grassley’s aides from his Des Moines, Iowa, office were scheduled to be represented in a Polk County court yesterday, according to Jill Kozeny, a spokeswoman for the senator. The case, State of Iowa v. Chester Guinn, Brian David Terrell, Dixie Jenness Webb, Kathleen McQuillen, and Elton Lloyd Davis, began Monday and is expected to be completed today.

{mosads}Sen. Grassley did not seek prosecution, Kozeny said. The decision was made solely by the local prosecutor.

On Feb. 26, five Iowa Occupation Project anti-war protesters were arrested in Grassley’s Des Moines office for trespassing.

Eleven other Occupation Project protesters from the organization, charged with trespassing the same day in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, office, were sentenced last week and ordered to pay $190 in fines and court costs, according to local press reports.

And last week, 19 other protesters from the organization were arrested at the Cedar Rapids offices of Grassley and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). They refused to leave the building when the offices closed and each was charged with trespassing, according to local press reports.

The Occupation Project uses nonviolent civil disobedience actions to demonstrate against the Iraq war. Since the campaign was initiated in February, more than 320 citizens have been arrested around the country for occupying the offices of their representatives in Congress, the websites says.