More activists were arrested Tuesday at Attorney General Tom Horne's office in Phoenix after another protest of Horne's lawsuit to make DREAMers ineligible to pay in-state tuition at community colleges.
This time, activists held a sort of mock funeral for the dreams of the young people being denied in-state tuition, as the activists burned more high school diplomas and attempted to deliver the ashes in an urn to Horne.
See also:
-Tom Horne Not Budging on Tuition for DREAMers
-DREAMers Burn High School Diplomas at AG's Office to Protest College-Tuition Lawsuit
There was no sign Tuesday of Horne, who filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa Community Colleges to try to prevent the colleges from giving in-state tuition to the young undocumented people who have been granted deferred action. Pima Community Colleges have been added to the lawsuit for attempting to do the same.
"[DREAMers are] being run down by hit-and-run Horne," Citizens for a Better Arizona field director Beto Soto said.
Protesters were in the lobby of the Attorney General's Office for some time, signing "Amazing Grace" until Arizona State Capitol Police officers told everyone to leave at 5 p.m.
At that point, many left, but some -- who were holding an American flag in front of a portrait of Horne mounted on the wall -- were warned and arrested.
Tents were set up outside the AG's Office, presumably for some overnight protesting.
In related stunts, the same activists associated with CBA got a meeting with Horne last month, and once he said he wasn't budging on his position, they unfurled a large sign that said Horne's a cheater.
In another, the protesters brought in a taco truck, so they could symbolically trade in their high school diplomas for jobs on the taco truck.
UPDATE 3:20 p.m.: Organizers of the protest say those arrested at Horne's office were jailed for 10 hours.
Here's what we got this morning from Citizens From a Better Arizona:
Yesterday afternoon, just one day before Attorney Tom Horne and his legal team begin court proceedings to ban Dreamers from community colleges, Dreamers and their supporters made one final request at Horne's offices in Tucson and Phoenix to drop the lawsuit. While 3 citizens in Horne's Tucson office were cited and released within two hours for refusing to leave the office, 4 citizens who participated in the action at Horne's office in Phoenix were arrested, detained unnecessarily prior to arriving to the County Jail, booked and kept in custody for over 10 hours. The Phoenix 4, courageous citizens who peacefully refused to leave Horne's Office when it closed at 5:00PM, were unfortunately punished for the past actions of other citizens and Dreamers who have done the exact same thing. After spending over 10 hours in jail, the Phoenix 4, Dan O'Neal, Barb Njos, Davier Rodriguez and Monica Keyes, were finally released from jail around 3:30AM. "We cannot have two standards of justice within 120 miles in the same state," stated Beto Soto, Field Director for CBA. "Mr. Horne has chosen to crack down on the Phoenix 4 to send a message of intimidation and fear to anyone else who may consider taking similar action of civil disobedience because of his lawsuit against Dreamers. This is unfair, illegal and unnecessary."Check out more photos from the protest on the following pages.
Later this morning at 8:30AM, citizens arrested in both Phoenix and Tucson will participate in a special delegation to Horne's Office followed by a press conference. "No person should be punished for the actions of someone else. Mr. Horne has chosen to deny the Phoenix 4 their constitutional right under the 1st Amendment to petition one's government," stated Virginia Hauflire, someone cited and released for similar conduct at Horne's Office. "Horne continues to abuse his power against Dreamers and now against citizens who dare to challenge his power. We will not be silenced."
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