4 Homeless Activists Arrested After They Try to ‘Evict’ Helms

WASHINGTON — Homeless activists served an “eviction notice” Friday on the office of North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, removed the furniture from his outer office and were led off in handcuffs.

“Oh, this chair feels good,” said a homeless man identified as Lou Juluke, 56, settling into a brown leather upholstered chair in the middle of an upstairs hall in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Minutes later, a team of Capitol Hill civil disobedience specialists moved in and arrested three other demonstrators who had removed the furniture.

The demonstrators said Helms voted for budget cuts that left thousands homeless and he deserved a symbolic taste of his own medicine. Helms’ press secretary, Barbara Lukens, said she was unsure of the whereabouts of the Republican senator when the episode began.