Occupy Iowa: Police Arrest 5 Outside Ron Paul’s Office - East Idaho News
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Occupy Iowa: Police Arrest 5 Outside Ron Paul’s Office

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Getty 120511 RonPaul?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1325180748556Alex Wong/Getty Images(ANKENY, Iowa) — Ron Paul has been officially occupied. A handful of Occupy Des Moines members blocked the entrance to Paul’s campaign headquarters in Ankeny, Iowa, on Thursday, demanding that the front-runner in the GOP primary race retract his pledge to cut the EPA if he’s elected president.

The police arrested five of the demonstrators and charged them with trespassing, according to Danielle Ryun, a member of the group.

Ryun said the protesters had planned to blockade Paul’s office until he formally rescinded his often repeated vow to dismantle the EPA. “I feel like we were effective as long as we were getting the message out to voters,” she said.

Occupy Des Moines doesn’t have formal plans to restart the blockade, Ryun said after the protesters were arrested in the morning.

The Occupy movement has targeted the campaign trail in Iowa in the days leading up to the state’s caucus on Jan. 3. On Tuesday, members held a “people’s caucus” to plan the disruption of the presidential campaigns. Recently, protesters ambushed Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

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