Several protesters rallied outside the White House Monday morning demanding answers from the White House regarding Operation Fast and Furious. The crowd grew as curious tourists paused to glimpse at the gathering of people chanting “Holder lied! Terry died!”
The chant referred to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Terry was killed ten miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border on December 14, 2010 by a gun linked to Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacoo, Firearms, and Explosives operation at the heart of a political firestorm in Washington.
The controversy erupted last week, when the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for allegedly withholding documents from investigators. President Obama asserted “executive privilege” to prohibit the release of those documents just hours before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee advanced the contempt resolution.
Organized via social media, Monday’s protest was “Indicative of the fact that young people especially care about this issue,” one protester told Scribe.
While many expressed outrage over Operation Fast and Furious itself, others voiced frustration with the Obama administration’s opacity on the issue.
“We want answers for Fast and Furious,” said another protester. We want to know what happened inside this administration. We want to know what they’re up to and if anything actually did go wrong. If they didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t see why they can’t release the documents.”
“We’re here trying to spread awareness about it because the mainstream media won’t choose to acknowledge it,” another added.
The Secret Service shut down the protest after about an hour due to an unattended “suspicious package.” A tourist later claimed the backpack, but the protest did not resume.
