WASHINGTON — About 30 protesters rallied outside an office of the National Fraternal Order of Police Wednesday, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and blocking traffic on busy Massachusetts Avenue.
Demonstrators tied themselves to ladders and fences with chains and bicycle locks to block the entrance to the FOP’s legislative center. Spokesmen for the group demanded that rank-and-file police officers stop paying union dues to the FOP.
They said they planned to occupy the space as long as they could.
“We are here to stop the FOP from protecting killer cops,” said Makia Green, 24, who was at the entrance to the building, chained to a ladder. “This is where they push the legislation that harms black people. So we are here to occupy to make sure there are no bills today.”
Congress is on an extended summer recess, so no legislative business in taking place on Capitol Hill.
The demonstrators were angry over several incidents in recent months where unarmed black men were shot by police. Police too have been gunned down in incidents in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The FOP could not be reached immediately reached for comment on the demonstration.
Protestors chanted, “set my people free,” and “we want freedom, freedom; all these racist cops, we don’t need them.”
Black Lives Matter DC, Black Youth Project 100, and Asian and Pacific Islander Resistance were among the groups participating in the demonstration.
“We can’t fight anti-blackness unless we fight anti-blackness in the communities outside of the black communities. We appreciate the solidarity in moments like this,” said Jonathan Lykes, a member of the Black Youth Project 100.