6 Arrested at Badham’s Office in Contra Protest

Newport Beach police took six protesters into custody Thursday after they demonstrated against U.S. aid to Nicaragua’s rebels by refusing to leave the office of Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach).

The six protesters were escorted by police from the congressman’s Fashion Island office and put into three police cars after a citizen’s arrest for trespassing was made by William Schreiber, Badham’s district representative.

Police released the demonstrators on their own recognizance Thursday evening.

Those arrested were members of Pledge of Resistance or the Orange County Coalition for Peace and Justice. Other members of the groups held demonstrations Thursday at the offices of two other Orange County representatives.

Protesters held peaceful vigils at the offices of William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) and Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), where Dornan’s staff locked the offices and left.

Schreiber said he called police only after he had listened to protesters vent their opposition to Badham’s vote in the House on Wednesday in favor of spending $100 million in military aid for the contras.

During the protest, which began about 3 p.m., demonstrators entered Badham’s office carrying anti- contra signs. For the next three hours they read political statements and a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., and held discussions on the issue.

Schreiber said the congressman, who was in Washington, has viewed similar protests by the same group as exercises of free speech. But after protesters disrupted the office and refused to leave Thursday, Schreiber said, he was left with no alternative but to call police.

“I spent more than 2 1/2 hours sitting here listening to what they had to say,” Schreiber said. “They made their statements, but I needed to go and they wouldn’t leave.”

Schreiber said he would have preferred not to have the protesters placed in custody but “we did have to close the office and they wouldn’t leave.”