Occupy Congress seizes Supreme Court steps, then forces White House security lock down

At about 7PM on the 17th of January, Occupy Congress did something I have never seen a protest accomplish before: They took over the iconic steps of the Supreme Court building, with one report saying some reached the doors. There were no reports of anyone getting inside.

Video:Supreme Court and White House actions

In all the years of protests and even street battles around the Supreme Court over abortion and the death penalty, the Supreme Court police have jealously guarded these steps, arresting any protesters who dared to mount them.

When an estimated 2000 occupiers showed up, the Supreme Court police were caught with their pants down. Unable to stop the surging crowd with their limited forced then on duty, they simply stood out of the way while Occupy Congress seized the famous steps. The closest thing I have seen to this-ever, was SDS in 2007 fighting their way from 3ed st to the top of the steps of the US Capitol. Unlike SDS, Occupy Congress did not need shields and did not have to fight to take the steps, the cops simply yielded to the reality of a surging, unstoppable tsunami of people.

Afterwards, a march on the White House culminated in a mass of protesters mounting the concrete base of the White House fence, an unconfirmed report of someone trying to get over it, and the White House security lights being turned on, the first them I have ever seen them come on during a protest.

FAUX Nnews is claiming that one or more smoke bombs may have been heaved over the White House fence. I didn’t see them go off, but heard a rumor of “firecrackers” which I never heard go off. I don’t know if these were the reason for the security lights and several rifle-armed SS agents on the White House lawn, or if a false report therof was being used as an excuse. FAUX(you know who they are…) also gave an estimate of only 1,000 protesters, though some might have left after the historic Supreme Court action.

As Occupy mounted the steps and the security lights came on, the north entrance to the White House was closed to everyone, even the White Hosue staff, etc. Anyone leaving the White House grounds had to go through the White House itself and exit by the South Entrance according to Faux News.

Politico is claiming that the Secret Service “moved people from the area” but I saw neither an attempt to move the protesters off the fence nor the capability to do so without using weapons such as pepper spray or worse. Politico’s headline was “White House locked down because of smoking objects.”

At 9:42 PM, at which time to protest had essentially ended, Obama himself was reported by Politico as returning by the South Entrance, this being described as his usual route. That’s no surprise, it’s a much easier staging grounds of a motorcade of that size. Still, you can bet he was told not to return to the White House until Occupy left! As for Occupy, they were demanding that Obama “Come out and talk” as there were matters requiring a discussion. The problem is, if Obama were to comply, he would then be so closely linked with Occupy as to bet the entire 2012 election on Occupy being able to mantain both their momentum and their popularity, reported in November 2011 by the Washington Post as 37%, with the Tea Party at 34%.