Local News in Brief : AIDS Protesters Arrested
Seven people protesting AIDS legislation were arrested Friday for trespassing at Sen. Pete Wilson’s office in Santa Monica, authorities said.
Michael Wootton, Southern California director of Wilson’s office, said he placed the seven men under citizen’s arrest at 9:30 a.m. after they began shouting a list of names of victims who have died of the disease.
“When they came in, they said they did not want to meet with us,” he said. “So we let them sit in the outer office. They didn’t want to discuss anything. They said they just wanted to be arrested. So eventually we accommodated them.”
The group, which called itself Out and Outraged, protested an amendment to a health bill, passed by the Senate two weeks ago, which said the government did not endorse intravenous drug abuse or sexual practices known to promote the spread of AIDS. Wilson voted for the bill, which passed, 96 to 2.
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