Chicago City Wire

A Chicago-based organization called People’s Action stormed the lobby of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, on Tuesday.

Melissa Quinn, a reporter for The Daily Signal, which is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, said approximately 200 protesters took part in the hour-long demonstration, voicing their opposition to the think tank's budget blueprint, which President Donald Trump has adopted for his budget initiative.

Quinn described what she saw to Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson of the Chicago’s Morning Answer radio show on Wednesday.

Proft is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.

“They kept chanting about things like 'water not walls,' which I believe was a vague reference to the Dakota Access Pipeline," Quinn said. "Some of the signs hit on immigration and healthy communities, which I would assume is a knock on Heritage’s stance on the Affordable Care Act."

Quinn said she doesn’t know which parts of the Heritage budget protesters were opposed to because they refused to speak with her or anyone on the Signal's video team. 

Protesters did speak with reporters from the website Think Progress, saying they were fighting budget cuts that impact poor communities and the environment, like cutting school lunch programs and reductions to education and housing.

“This protest was part of a three-day convention that was taking place here in D.C. protesting Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,” Quinn said. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (-VT), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), activist Van Jones and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) took part in the convention but were not involved in the Heritage Foundation protest, Quinn said.

Quinn said several people were arrested during the demonstration but had little impact on operations at the Heritage Foundation.

“Once the protesters cleared out, everything was pretty much business as usual," she said.