Left-wing Shutdown DC protest blocks traffic around nation's capital
Demonstrators' causes include climate change, immigration, voting rights, health care and racial justice
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A left-wing protest in Washington, D.C., is blocking traffic in the nation's capital to demonstrate against an administration and lawmakers they believe have failed them by not delivering on various promises.
The initiative, dubbed "Shutdown DC," is a joint effort from several activist organizations that are each conducting blockades at different spots near the Capitol building.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"On Dec. 7, as Congress returns to the Capitol for the last week of the 2021 legislative calendar, we’re going to take bold direct action to demand that Congress and the administration take action to pass the programs that they promised us and we voted for," said a message on the Shutdown DC website. "We’re taking to the streets to shut down the backroom meetings and political theater that have failed to deliver the progress that our communities need."
The groups involved include SPACES In Action, Extinction Rebellion DC, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, Code Pink. Demonstrators are advocating causes including climate change, immigration reform, voting rights, D.C. statehood, health care and racial justice.
Images from the scene showed protesters blocking roads as they stood in the way of traffic with signs and other props.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Activists blockade a street near the U.S. Capitol during a sunrise protest calling upon Congress to enact progressive legislation, in Washington, Dec. 7, 2021. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
The blockade organizers offered training for participants this past weekend, advertising that they would be teaching "the basics of organizing disruptive direct action, specific skills like assertive intervention, working as a police liaison, and making action art!"
An activist dressed as Rich Uncle Pennybags from the board game Monopoly takes part in a street blockade protest in Washington, Dec. 7, 2021. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Activists block streets near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 7, 2021. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
According to conservative podcaster Lyndey Fifield, the blockades did more than just draw attention to their causes: they also got in the way of World War II veterans looking to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which took place on Dec. 7, 1941.
An activist dances to a band atop a street blockade near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 7, 2021. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Activists block streets near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This morning WWII veterans aren't able to get to their own monument in D.C. to honor the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor because the malformed screeching children of #shutdownDC are intentionally blocking traffic and throwing a tantrum for no reason," Fifield tweeted.
Fox News reached out to Shutdown DC for comment on whether getting in the way of veterans was part of the plan or simply an unintended consequence, but they did not immediately respond.
Fifield told Fox News that fortunately there were "no confrontations between the protesters and veterans. She said the veterans were just "caught in the overall gridlock" caused by the blockades," and she was helping a group that could not figure out how to get around the protests.