Photo by Kristen Hartke.

Photo by Kristen Hartke.

Update: As of around 4:15 p.m. today, protesters continue to demonstrate outside the legislative office of the National Fraternal Order of Police, and are calling for more supporters to join them.

“We have held the line for EIGHT hours and counting,” reads an email from Occupy FOP. “Join us today from 5:30 p.m. … as we continue to OCCUPY the National Fraternal Order of Police.”

Original: About 50 protesters with Black Lives Matter DC and Black Youth Project 100 are protesting outside the legislative office of the National Fraternal Order of Police in Northeast, blocking traffic on Massachusetts Ave.

“The plan is to shut down the FOP for as long as we can,” says Clarise McCants, one of the spokespeople for the protest. She says they plan to demonstrate for at least four hours—”the hours that Mike Brown was left lying in the street.” 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson in 2014, and his death sparked protests and national dialogue about police use of force and racism in law enforcement.

BLM DC and BYP 100 say in a statement that the Fraternal Order of Police “protects officers—including those who kill and maim civilians—by ensuring they are paid administrative leave while under investigation, maintain their jobs, and are not charged or acquitted of wrongdoing.”

“Occupy F-O-P, most dangerous fraternity,” protesters are chanting. “What side are you on? We’re on the freedom side.” They’re also singing Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”

Calls to the FOP legislative office have not been returned. Protesters are also demonstrating outside FOP offices in New York City.

“We’re out here because this is the legislative office, so this is where they push the legislation that criminalizes black lives,” says McCants. “The building that they’re in right now looks like a house—no one even knew this was here. We’re trying to expose them.”

D.C. Police are on the scene, and advising that people use alternate routes.

One older white man tried to walk through the protests, and protesters asked him to walk around.

“I don’t want to walk around, I want to walk through,” the man said.

“Use your white privilege to walk around,” protesters said.

The hashtag #StopFOP is trending on Twitter in D.C. A series of demonstrations in recent weeks, including a march from the White House to the Capitol and a prayer vigil, have sought to highlight police brutality.


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Filed Under: black lives matter, black youth project, byp 100, d.c. police, demonstration, FOP, fraternal order of police, protest,