DAWN activist briefly detained by CIA police outside John Negroponte's home

DAWN Weekly Action Group Protests Bill Frist: Video
DAWN Weekly Action group Protests John Negroponte 3100 Cleveland Ave. NW: Video

John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence, lives at 3100 Cleveland Avenue in Washington, DC. Tonight, the DC Anti-War Network's Weekly Action Group followed up a visit to the home of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist with a visit to the nearby home of Negroponte.

One of our numbers was detained for about half an hour. Here is the initial report posted on DAWN's list. What follows that is my reply.

>
> A DAWN activist was taken into custody by police at Secret Police Czar
> Negroponte's home 3100 Cleveland Ave.,NW. He was apparently physically
> harmed by the police according to one DAWN acivist. As this initial report
> is posted it appears that the activist has been released from custody. He
> was held for about 30 minutes in a police car for questioning. According
> to a DAWN activist no laws or violence was used by the protesters. John
> Negroponte has a long history of being associated with dictators, torture,
> the disappearing of those who dissent and resist US domination and their
> subsequent killing. Negroponte is a dangerous man who should be treated as
> such. Tonight, DAWN activists protested outside of the Washington DC
> mansion of Senator Frist a warmongerer and adversary of immigrants
> especially those from Latin America. Afterwards the DAWN contingent went
> to the mansion of John Negroponte, war criminal and Bush Administration
> advocate of torture and Bill of Rights adversary.
>  More reports will follow.

***My follow-up report****

Everyone is okay.

The police officer who took our friend into custody was a CIA police
officer who seemed to live in the house, having come out of the garage
once and then again to grab our friend as all of us were leaving.  We had
been there exactly 10 minutes chanting and were on our way out.  This
person was the last behind and was getting gear for a bicycle.

There are reports that the CIA police officer had told some of us that
Negroponte wanted someone arrested.  Negroponte was seen inside the house
and was later captured on videotape in the garage.

We are sincerely afraid that if we hadn't returned to witness what was
happening that our friend risked being disappeared or taken into
Negroponte's house.  This officer wasn't fooling around.  Even a neighbor
came out from across the street to argue with the CIA police officer that
the protest was peaceful and that he had no business arresting him.  The
CIA police officer said he was detaining him until the MPD could arrest
him.  But, the MPD ultimately ascertained that the activist had done
nothing to deserve arrest and then warned activists that if they protest
there that they need to stay off the property and keep the decibel level
down.

Other odd people came out of Negroponte's house, including a guy in a
suit.  His house wasn't anywhere near as large as Frist's gigantic
mansion, and it's odd to think there are all these secret police types
living in his house.

I am going to propose that we organize a larger protest to Negroponte's
house.  Negroponte has been responsible for a lot of bad things in Central
America, where he was involved with the funding of the Contras, helping
the Honduran death squads, later ambassador to the UN, Iraq, and now
director of national intelligence.  He seems to be an axis point of a lot
that's wrong in the world, as though the dots are pointing his direction.

It's clear that this man does not like protest.

There were several spooky moments, and I had a lot of images of
anti-communist dissidents worrying that the secret police were out to get
them.  These are very powerful people, and I'm only thankful we were there
to be witnesses.

More will be coming, including a lot of video and audio.

As for Frist, his mansion was so large I had trouble believing we were in
DC.  All his lights were on, and he had a huge screen tv that we could
watch from the more than 100 feet away that we were.  Yet, with all the
lights and the gate, he didn't seem to be home.

This was an action of the DAWN Weekly Action Group.

Jim