Jody Mason wanted to make a bold statement against the Bush administration’s Iraq actions, and so he headed to downtown Olympia, Washington, and shackled himself to the front door of the local Department of Energy office, considering it his big opportunity to thrown sand into the inhuman federal cogworks.
Except, um, well, he chose the wrong building. Instead of the local DoE, he actually shackled himself to the front door of the Washington State Grange office.
Grange employees found him about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday and asked what he was doing. He told employees he’d chained himself to the building in civil disobedience Monday night after listening to President Bush’s televised ultimatum to Saddam Hussein.
Mason padlocked one end of the chain around his neck and the other to a door, which opens to a bottom-floor office. He told onlookers he was protesting Bush’s foreign and domestic policies. He had affixed a sign to the building reading, “Reduce Deficit.”
Grange employees explained that he was at the wrong building. The Grange is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for residents in rural areas.
Police had to use heavy boltcutters to free him from the door (at his request), since he’d thrown away the key.
No charges will be filed. Getting his picture in the paper is considered punishment enough.