OPINION

Police arrest 6 protesters in U.S. Senate office building

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Police arrested six protesters Tuesday who surged into a Senate office building in Washington, chanting slogans for about 15 minutes before officers intervened.

"Six demonstrators were arrested in the Hart Senate Office Building by the U.S. Capitol Police and charged with unlawful conduct by demonstrating in a Capitol building," a police spokeswoman said.

"They are currently being processed" at the headquarters of the Capitol Police, which has jurisdiction over the buildings that house the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

The snap protest was spearheaded by members of Stop the Machine, an antiwar coalition that carried live video of the demonstration inside the atrium of the Hart building on its website.

"We win! One hundred percent success!" one of the protesters said to the camera, claiming that the snap demonstration had resulted in a "lock down" of all Senate offices.

"We voiced our opinion, that we are the 99 percent, that we are against war," added another protester, Leah Bolger, a former U.S. Navy commander who is vice president of Veterans for Peace.

Stop the Machine has been occupying Freedom Plaza near the White House since Thursday. A second, younger group called Occupy DC, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, has been in downtown McPherson Square since Oct. 1.