AIDS ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN WASHINGTON

Twenty-Six People Were Charged With Unlawfully Demonstrating in the
Capitol Rotunda.

Washington -- A group of AIDS activists was arrested Thursday for
unlawfully demonstrating in the Capitol rotunda, a Capitol Police
spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said 11 men and 15 women each face a charge
of unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and loud and boisterous
behavior. Their names and ages were not immediately released.

Schneider said the group entered the rotunda and linked themselves
together with a white chain.

The area is usually crowded with tourists, but police restricted the
traffic while they made arrests.

The activists carried signs in support of funding for needle
exchange, HIV/AIDS housing and programs aimed at fighting AIDS.

They chanted "Fight global AIDS now" and "Clean needles save lives."
They marched in a circle before lying down on the floor.

Police bound the activists' hands together and dragged some of the
demonstrators to their feet as they arrested them.

The arrests were made one day before President Obama is to arrive in
Ghana, where 320,000 people are HIV-positive, according to the United
Nations' AIDS-fighting agency, UNAIDS.

The activists were part of a coalition of five AIDS groups from
Washington, Philadelphia and New York.

Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back questioned why lawmakers were
bailing out financial institutions instead of devoting more dollars
to AIDS programs.

"HIV is not in a recession," Adele-Oso said in a written statement
from the coalition about the demonstration.