Posted by CODEPINK Staff
The "I Miss America" group of CODEPINK members just returned to CODEPINK headquarters all smiles and laughter, and filled with stories of...pleasant police?
On the way to see Nancy Pelosi at the Hyatt Hotel on Walton St. about an hour ago, several police stopped them to see what they were doing. Then two officers posed for a photo (and did not want to give their names).
But once the women reached the front of the Hyatt, police were gathering by the minute (at least 40 or 50, with reinforcements arriving). They kept telling the women to move, first from the benches, and out of the blocked off driveway, then on the other of the driveway. Once there, the women sang, "I Miss America" (to the tune of "God Bless America", then a chant "Hey Pelosi, pay attention; this should be peace convention."
Then the police were talking among themselves that the CODEPINKers were peaceful and said they could do whatever they wanted, just not cross the driveway. Said Josie Lenwell, of Taos, "That's when they said, 'we know you're peaceful, we're not afraid of you all. It's the people behind you we're afraid of."
Lenwell said "they were actually very pleasant with us, they didn't keep the same straight face a lot of cops keep."
Afterwards, the officers gave them Jolly Ranchers.
