A Saturday afternoon rally for D.C. voting rights at the White House was capped off by the arrest of 12 people, bringing to 73 the number of residents and advocates that have been arrested fighting for voting rights, self-determination and statehood since April.

As the rally came to a close in nearby Lafayette Park, the 12 sat down on the sidewalk in front of the White House and linked arms. Park Police and Secret Service cleared the area, issued orders to disperse and proceeded to arrest the demonstrators. They were charged with violating a regulation that prohibits stationary protests within 10 feet of the center panel of the gate that surrounds the White House.

The 12 included Trayon White, the Ward 8 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education; Dr. Dennis Wiley and his wife Christina of the Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ; former youth mayor Markus Batchelor, the youngest of those arrested; former Ward 8 ANC Phil Pannell; former shadow representative candidate Nate Bennett Fleming; Reverend Amanda Poppei of the Washington Ethical Society, a Maryland resident who is eight months pregnant; and Tracy Loh, who was arrested in a voting rights protest on Capitol Hill in early May. Also arrested were Ron Swanda, Juan Thompson, Marcie Cohen, and Samantha Scown.

An estimated 400 people attended the rally, which included speeches by Mayor Vince Gray, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large), members of the Shadow Delegation, activists, religious figures, and D.C. voting rights advocates. The rally sought to put pressure on President Obama to take a more forceful stance on D.C. voting rights, primarily the issues of budgetary and legislative autonomy.