WASHINGTON — Several people were arrested during an "unpermitted demonstration" near the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, the United States Park Police said.
According to USPP, the demonstrators gathered in the area of 3rd Street NW and Madison Drive. Videos obtained by WUSA9 show a group of people gathered near the Capitol, with several people standing on top of a parked trailer.
"You want to make change, this is how you do it," one man can be heard yelling in the video.
The demonstrators are part of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in Northern California. Members of the tribe have been traveling on horseback for the last two months on a journey that started at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The tribe called the journey the "Trail of Truth." The goal of the journey was to demand their tribe be recognized by the Federal government's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was once made up of 30,000 people but the tribe says it now has about 600 living members, according to reporting from CBS.
USPP confirmed Tuesday evening that eight people were arrested and officers reportedly warned them three times to disperse.
One of the people arrested is accused of assaulting a police officer, while eight others were taken into custody for "interfering with agency function and disobeying a lawful order."
DC Police are assisting and 3rd Street is closed to traffic in the area. There is no word when that street will reopen at this time.
No other details on the arrests have been released.
