DC Mayor Arrested at Budget Protest

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and several city council members were among 41 people arrested at a Capitol Hill protest against the budget deal yesterday. Gray and his colleagues were charged with unlawful assembly for blocking passage on the street and were taken to a Capitol Police facility before being released late last night, Politico reports.

The mayor was among hundreds of people who gathered to protest the budget bill's new restrictions on DC, including a measure demanded by Republicans that bans the district from using its own funds on abortion services. "I’m tired of being a pawn in a political game,” Gray said, slamming federal lawmakers for agreeing to the deal without consulting the district. “All we want is to be able to spend our own money.” (More Vincent Gray stories.)