Guantanamo protesters arrested in D.C.

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - About 100 protesters were arrested inside a federal courthouse Thursday after a brief demonstration calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

WASHINGTON - About 100 protesters were arrested inside a federal courthouse Thursday after a brief demonstration calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The group — which had a permit for a demonstration outside the courthouse — began singing and chanting as they were led away in small groups, their hands bound by plastic cuffs.

Demonstrators made their way into the courthouse through a side entrance where they passed through metal detectors and were cleared by security screeners. The protesters gathered in an atrium where they began reading poetry and singing songs.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ordered U.S. marshals to allow the group to gather peacefully. An aide said it was the first time such a demonstration had occurred inside the courthouse.

The arrests were triggered when the demonstrators violated rules laid down by U.S. Marshal George Walsh and continued wearing bright orange T-shirts and waving signs bearing slogans like "Stop Torture" and "Shut Down Guantanamo."

Walsh said the demonstrators would be cited, then released. Charges would be decided by federal prosecutors.

"They were going to be given a chance to be private citizens discussing something in the courthouse, but once you put the signs up it becomes something else," Walsh said.

Earlier, outside the Supreme Court building, several hundred demonstrators and dozens of rights activists wearing orange prison jump suits and black hoods called for the shutdown of Guantanamo.

Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, told the crowd the Bush administration has engaged in an "unprecedented overreaching of executive authority."