8 protestors arrested outside Holder's former firm
Eight individuals were arrested Wednesday as they protested the U.S. government’s lack of prosecution of bank mortgage foreclosure activities in the lobby of Covington & Burling’s office building in Washington, D.C.
Seven were charged with unlawful entry and one was charged with assaulting a police officer, reports NBC4 Washington.
The protest concerned a lack of Department of Justice prosecution of big banks over mortgage foreclosure litigation irregularities that have been the subject of news coverage for some time. The apparent connection with Covington is that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder formerly was a partner there and the protesters are objecting to what they call a revolving door between Wall Street interests and the U.S. government. The law firm also reportedly represents some big banks.
A YouTube video shows the protest yesterday, some of which also took place outside the office building and apparently involved at least several dozen people. A number sat within the sections of revolving doors of the building holding protest signs, blocking entry and exit, at least through those doors.
In addition to District of Columbia police, the video also shows Homeland Security officers at the scene. The YouTube video and a DCist post say the protest had been going on for several days, at the law firm’s office building and elsewhere, and had involved previous arrests and the use of a stun gun on some individuals.
An earlier Huffington Post article says 17 people were arrested Monday at the Department of Justice in a related protest organized by Occupy Our Homes and others, and additional persons were arrested Tuesday after spending the night there in tents.
Attorney Ann C. Wilcox, who represents the DOJ protesters, said those arrested Monday were charged with obstructing traffic.
The Department of Justice hasn’t commented.
