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Three Arrested In Emancipation Day Protest

By: Armando Trull // April 15, 2011
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Josh Birch says he wants his 4-month-old daughter, Karina, to be able to vote for a representative and senators for the District by the time she's 18.
Armando Trull
Josh Birch says he wants his 4-month-old daughter, Karina, to be able to vote for a representative and senators for the District by the time she's 18.

Brown says he's furious that Congress is mandating how the District spends its funds.

"These people feel they have the right to ignore the principles of democracy and tell the people of the District of Columbia how to run their lives," he says.

About 100 protesters of all ages and races cheered as the men were taken away in plastic handcuffs. D.C. resident Josh Birch brought his baby daughter Karina.

"I've never been able to vote for anyone in the House or the Senate, and now that I have a 4-month-old daughter, I want to make sure by the time she's 18, she can vote for a representative and two senators the way everyone else in this country can," Birch says.

Chanting protesters pointed to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's office. They say he caved in to Republican lawmakers who included riders in the budget resolution barring D.C. from paying for abortions and setting up a controversial school voucher program.

Forty-one people, including D.C. Mayor Vince Gray, were arrested during a similar protest on Monday, and organizers are promising more acts of civil disobedience.

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