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On the 11th of April, a solid week of civil disobedience protests began with a massive sit-in on the Capitol East Steps and in front of them. Democracy Spring is demandng that the campaign cash and bribery used by the wealthy and corporations to effectively own and operate Congress, regulatory agencies, etc be shut down entirely. Bus after bus had to be brought up to handle arrestees, and a little after 3PM police ran out of space and had to temporarily stop arresting people according to one report.

Update Day 2: hundreds of elders sit-in at the US Capitol, more arrests

Video of the first Democracy Spring sit-in on the Capitol East Steps

On the 10th of April, the Democracy Spring march arrived in DC, many of the participants having marched all the way from Philidelphia. They are here to demand a total end to corporate and "one percenter" cash and bribery in US elections. Beginning on April 11 there will be daily sit-ins on Capitol Hill for this demand.

Stirring video with music of Democracy Spring's entry into DC

On the 5th of April, supporters of Indigenous rights in Honduras marched from the World Bank to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(IACHR) to remember Berta Cáceres. She was an Indigenous activist murdered by yet to be found killers for destructive projects on Indigenous land, some of them funded by the World Bank. At the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Berta's daughter spoke to the marchers after her meeting with the commission.

Video including Berta Cáceres's daughter's complete speech and translation at the IACHR (11 min 33 sec)

On the evening of April 1 and afternoon of April 2, animal rights activists showed up outside Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus, notorious for beating and chaining elephants, tigers, and other animals. At prior protests circus attendees have reported seeing animals beaten on-stage. This time around, protesters were emphasizing that Ringling's promise to "retire" the elephants after this year is a hoax, as the elephants are to be returned to the "Conservation for Elephant Conservation." That is Ringling's elephant training facility where most of the beatings and torture occur.

Video highlights of the April 1 and April 2 Ringings protests

On the 31st of March, climate activists showed up at the Japanese Embassy to demand that the Prime Minister Abe reject plans for Japanese governmental funding of the planned Batang coal burning power plant in Indonesia. For four years Indonesian activists have stopped the plant and defended the land at the price of arrests and human rights violations. No bank will touch it, so now funding is being sought from the Japanese government.

Video from the protest at the Japanese Embassy

On the 24th of March, Kurdish activists displayed large banners across Mass Ave from the Turkish Embassy. The banners demanded that Turkey stop their war on the Kurdish people and stop collaborating with ISIS,also known as Daesh. The

On the 20th of March, a massive crowd of protesters including many from Occupied Palestine rallied at the White House before marching in force on the Convention Center, where AIPAC (American Israeli Political Affairs Comittee)was meeting. Secret Service tried to disrupt the initial rally by "closing" Penn Ave but the crowd refused to move. It was nearly an hour later that everyone finally did leave the disputed area, only to stream through the streets and confront attendees at AIPAC a few blocks away. One marcher recieved minor injuries in a confrontation with a very aggressive AIPAC attendee, but for the most part it was AIPAC that was forced onto the defensive. The protest was several times larger than the past few year's AIPAC protests and much more militant.

Video-Standing up to Secret Service, then marching on AIPAC and making their delegates run a gauntlet of booing protesters

On the 14th of March, two people were arrested after a banner was dropped inside the Ronald Reagan Building opposing the involvement of USAID in the 2009 coup in Honduras. Two of their support team were at least detained as well, security guards used a pain hold on one of them. The banner remembered Berta Caceres, an Indigenous activist murdered by the coup regime's security forces last week. USAID has an office on the Mezzanine level in the building. Security guards failed in their attempt to prevent the protest from being photographed.

Video by Rex Neon

On the morning of March 10, Mayor Bowser's DC government declared the homeless people living in tents along the 1st st wall near Union Station to be garbage and sent the Department of Public Works to discard their belongings. Some but not all of the tent campers were offered housing, some have no place to sleep tonight. Once again those who don't make $100,000 a year can thank Mayor Bowser for her determination to prevent those who cannot afford rent from sleeping anywhere that offers overhead cover except for the very limited space in government-approved shelters.

Video from clips by Street Sense and Mike Brice Saddler