Protesters Barred From Federal Building Group Recalling Murder Of Archbishop Finds Nethercutt ‘Guilty’ Of Backing School Of The Americas

Several dozen protesters were locked out of Spokane’s federal building Friday and were prevented from delivering an “indictment” of Rep. George Nethercutt.

Officers of the Federal Protective Service locked the building’s revolving doors when the protesters approached after a demonstration to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

An officer said locking the doors was a precaution, based on a telephone tip that some protesters intended to stage a sit-in and be arrested.

Paddy Inman, a spokesman for the protesters, said the group will return Monday at 4 p.m. in another attempt to deliver its message to Nethercutt.

“This is a violation of our First Amendment rights,” Inman said. “As American citizens, we have a right to enter the building.”

The protest started with a march by about 70 people from Gonzaga University to the plaza in front of the federal building.

Some carried white crosses with the names of Salvadoran men, women or children they said had been killed by soldiers trained at the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.

Romero was assassinated while saying Mass in El Salvador. He was killed by a graduate of the school, Inman told the group, which grew to about 100 as people gathered in the plaza for songs and prayers.

Inman, a former Mead high school teacher, has been jailed for civil disobedience at the School of the Americas.

Protesters also held a mock trial in “the People’s Court of Eastern Washington,” in which Nethercutt was criticized for voting for appropriations for the school.

A woman dressed in a black robe asked for a verdict, and the crowd - which included clerics, children in strollers and skateboarding teens with spiked hair - yelled “Guilty!” About 30 protesters then approached the federal building to deliver the already prepared “indictment” to Nethercutt’s sixth-floor office.

Although it was 15 minutes before the building’s 5 p.m. closing time, security officers locked the doors. Nethercutt was in Washington, D.C., but his aide, Don Gillespie, stood in front of the building and offered to deliver the message to the congressman. Dick Williams of the Federal Protective Service told the group that only four protesters could go in at a time.

Building manager Craig Keenan eventually told the group that no one could enter.

“We paid for this building,” shouted a protester.

Williams said the early closure was “a prudent thing to do.”

“We received information that these people were going to sit in and wanted to be arrested,” he said.

Al Mangan, a protester, said there were no such intentions.

As the bells at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral tolled 5, the protesters formed a circle in the plaza, sang “We Shall Overcome” and dispersed - promising to return Monday.