Dr. Cornel West, Raheem DeVaughn and 17 others were arrested in Washington D.C. shortly after they attended the deidication of the Dr. martin Luther King monument. The group joined demonstrators of the Occupy Wall Street movement at Freedom Square on Pennsylvania Avenue to protest the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
A spokesman confirmed that the West was one of 19 people were arrested for refusing to leave the square. West told a crowd of protesters and reporters, “We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decision. We want to send a lesson to ourselves, to our loved ones, our families, our communities, our nation and the world that out of deep love for working and poor people that we are willing to put whatever it takes, even if we get arrested today, and say, we will not allow this day of Martin Luther King Jr’s memorial to go without somebody going to jail.”
The Princeton University professor and former Harvard professor has openly criticized president Obama for being sympathetic to Wall Street oligarchs and frequently takes issue with the administration’s domestic and foreign policies. -roz edward
