OFFICIAL RELEASE: Two CODEPINK Activists Arrested for Protesting Karl Rove

Posted by CODEPINK Staff

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two members of the women's peace group CODEPINK were arrested today at a financial convention in San Francisco when they took the stage along Karl Rove and staged a citizen's arrest on charges of war crimes.

At the Commercial Finance Association annual convention, as Rove debated former senator John Edwards, Janine Boneparth, 58, of Ross, CA, walked on the stage handcuffed to fellow CODEPINK woman Nancy Mancias.  Boneparth held up photos of dead soldiers killed in Iraq and blew a whistle.  At the same moment, Nancy Mancias, 38, of San Francisco, CA, held up crime scene tape and pronounced to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, Karl Rove is a war criminal!"

Boneparth and Mancias were escorted out of the building by police and taken downtown to be booked for trespassing.  The women moved to make a citizen's arrest of the former Bush Administration chief of staff, under California Code 837, as Boneparth attempted to do at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual conventions Oct. 21 (see photos and video of the arrest here http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=6461516). The women believe their charges of trespassing unjust, as they were guests at the convention's hotel, the Marriott.

CODEPINK has been following and confronting Karl Rove as he tours the country at appearances such as his recent Sacramento appearance at the Perspectives public affairs forum, and at the Houston Aquarium. Concerned citizens believe that Karl Rove should be arrested and tried in court for lying about the Iraq War, outing C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame, contempt of Congress, and supporting torture.

"We are demanding accountability from Karl Rove who lied to get us into the war and outed C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame," said CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. "If law enforcement and Congress won't do it, we the American people will!"

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CODEPINK, founded in 2002, is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care, education and other life-affirming activities. We reject the Bush administration's fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead call for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.  For more info, visit www.codepinkalert.org.