Hundreds Arrested Nationwide as Poor People's Campaign Demands 'End to the War Economy'

Published on

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

by

Common Dreams

"We have a long history of wars against other people, mostly people of color, around the world. It's time we stopped calling it the Defense Department and started calling it what it is: the Department of War."

by

Jake Johnson, staff writer

In its demands unveiled last month, the Poor People's Campaign called for "a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a Veterans Administration system that must remain public." (Photo: Poor People's Campaign/Twitter)

Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s warning that "a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom," the Poor People's Campaign launched its third week of action in cities nationwide on Tuesday with the aim of confronting the American war economy, which pours resources that could be used to provide healthcare and food to the poor at home into the killing of innocents aboad.

Hoisting signs that read "The War Economy Is Immoral" and "Ban Killer Drones," demonstrators gathered at the capitol buildings of New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and several other states to denounce a militaristic system that profits "every time a bomb is dropped on innocent people."

As of this writing, hundreds have been arrested and many more are facing arrest as they gather outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office in Washington, D.C.

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Union Seminary

✔@UnionSeminary

“If you want to thank me for my service, work for peace!” #PoorPeoplesCampaign

12:51 AM - May 30, 2018

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PA Poor People's Campaign@PennsylvaniaPPC

“We have a long history of wars against other people, mostly people of color, around the world...it’s time we stopped calling it the defense department and started calling it what it is: the department of war.” -John Braxton, Vietnam War draft resister #PoorPeoplesCampaign

As Common Dreams reported, the Poor People's Campaign unveiled a detailed series of demands last month ahead of the launch of its 40 days of action in more than 30 states across the country.

"We demand a stop to the privatization of the military budget and any increase in military spending," the agenda reads. "We demand a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a Veterans Administration system that must remain public."

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