Eight members of the Occupy Des Moines movement were arrested this afternoon when they refused to leave the offices of the Iowa Democratic Party. The protesters had been camped outside President Obama’s campaign office in Des Moines since Saturday afternoon, but moved to the Democratic Party headquarters today as Obama campaign staffers closed their office.
A release from the Occupy Des Moines group states they were “demanding that President Obama veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).” Obama signed the NDAA today.
Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Norm Sterzenbach released a statement saying “an occupation of our office is not acceptable” and “it’s unfortunate that some members chose to face arrest, rather than leave as they were asked to do multiple times.”