16 Arrested at Tax Day Action

16 people were arrested at an April 15 tax day action at the Oakland federal building. Protesters formed a circle in the rotunda lobby, loudly reciting statistics about how U.S. tax dollars have paid for death and destruction in Iraq and Palestine. They then lay on the floor in a symbolic die-in, linking arms, displaying 1040 tax forms stained with blood-red handprints. Federal officers arrested 13 protesters and 3 legal observers, charging all with misdemeanor creating a public disturbance. They were processed at the federal building and released later that afternoon.

While the civil disobedience was happening indoors, a large crowd gathered outside for a press conference, rally, and street theater. Redirected tax dollars from war tax resisters were awarded to local community groups, and protesters took part in a simultaneous die-in with demonstrators inside.

The event was organized by Direct Action to Stop the War (http://www.ActAgainstWar.org), Northern California War Tax Resistance (http://www.nowartax.org), Global Intifada, and SUSTAIN-Stop US Tax Aid to Israel Now (http://www.sustaincampaign.org).