Police arrest Guantanamo protesters

The protesters, clad in orange jumpsuits, swarmed by the East
Front steps of the Capitol and were arrested between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on
Thursday. They were charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.

Capitol Police also arrested a separate group of 14
demonstrators in the Capitol Rotunda, who were charged with the same offenses,
according to a Capitol Police spokeswoman.

The protesters were from the group Witness Against Torture,
which posted video footage on its website of members walking the halls of the
Senate Hart Office Building. Names of individual Guantanamo detainees were
written on the backs of the protesters’ jumpsuits.

{mosads}The two groups are being processed at the Capitol Police’s
large detention facility at 67 K St. SW, according to a department
spokeswoman.

Friday marks the eight-year anniversary of the opening of
the Guantanamo prison.

A day after his inauguration, President Barack Obama
announced he’d seek to close the prison within a year. But Obama has been
unable to meet that timeline, partly because members of Congress have been
unwilling to have prisoners transferred to their states.

Calls for Guantanamo to stay open were renewed by some
Republicans in the wake of the Christmas Day attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit

Obama hopes to transfer detainees to a maximum security
prison in Illinois, or to foreign countries willing to accept the prisoners. Five
detainees are to be tried in New York City.