Over the past two years, the Olive Branch community has increasingly become a thorn in the mayor's side by dogging him at many public appearances and protesting his closure of the DC General Hospital.

Members of the Olive Branch feel that their eviction was politically motivated. If the mayor succeeded in breaking up their community, he probably figured there would be less protest against him, according members of the Olive Branch. This is an election year for the mayor, and his constantly facing protests cannot be a good thing.

T hey protested in front of City hall, and then marched a few blocks up 13th Street and attempted to take over a vacant school building. Three members of their community were arrested and are facing second degree burglary charges in the District of Columbia.

The irony here is that the City of Washington burglarized the Olive Branch when they evicted them. When the members of the Olive Branch entered the vacant building, they did not burglarize it. Nothing was stolen or disturbed. They entered it just to occupy it. Yet look who the state is calling the criminals.