August 2016

Civil Rights Group Challenges Buffer Zone that Restricts Free Speech at New Trump International Hotel

A section of Pennsylvania Avenue, a National Historic Site that runs from the White House to the Capitol, will be turned over for the use of the Trump Organization along with the large (7,000 square foot) previously public plaza that features an 1889 Benjamin Franklin statue and that abuts the soon-to-open Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office, as well as a portion of the sidewalk space abutting the Avenue.

The turnover of these spaces creates a “buffer zone” that appears to suppress or extinguish free speech in proximity to the building leased by Trump, restricting access to priority or exclusive use of the Trump Organization.

On the 6th of August, residents of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation showed up in front of the White House backed by other Native American and pro-Earth activists. The Dakota Access pipeline would pass under Native American burial grounds and when it breaks and spills will contaminate water the tanding Rock Sioux Reservation's residents depend on to stay alive. Digging has already begun for this pipeline even though permits have NOT been issued.

Video from the No Dakota Access protest

The 5th of August, DC area antiwar activists held their annual vigil on the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. One of the speakers was a Hiroshima survivor who was 3 years old at the time of the bombing.

A surviver from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (he was three at the time) speaks at the annual August 5 remembrance vigil in DC.