BELLEVUE, Wash: In an effort to keep attention on the stalled immigration reform efforts in Congress, more than 30 women were arrested at a rally inside the Washington state Republican Party headquarters in Bellevue. Among the arrested was the wife of outgoing Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Peggy Lynch.
Dozens of demonstrators, including some elderly women on scooters, were there with guitar, banners and drums to cheer on the women being arrested as they were walked from the office building to waiting Bellevue police patrol cars and vans.
We’re here to “highlight that women can’t wait for reform,” said Rachael DeCruz, a spokeswoman for the organizers. “So we’re escalating pressure and bringing the pressure back home to district where it matters.”
The women were arrested because they refused to leave the offices of the state Republican Party – a charge of trespassing, said Bellevue Police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate.
The new chair the Washington State Republican Party, Susan Hutchison, was in Washington D.C., but said in a statement she agrees the immigration system needs to be reformed.-AP
