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 In Washington, police arrested 142 members of a more liberal group
called Democracy Spring including 12 who cuffed themselves inside
the Capitol Rotunda to protest the influence of special interests
and to denounce laws making it more difficult to vote.
Nearly 1,000 Democracy Spring demonstrators have been arrested in
Washington this week.
Both the week-long protests in Washington and Friday's nationwide
demonstrations led by the activist group Represent.Us have tapped
into some of the voter frustration seen on the presidential campaign
trail.
"From super PACs (political action committees) to lucrative job
offers and campaign contributions, there are tons of perfectly legal
ways to bribe a politician," said Charlotte Hill, communications
director for Represent.Us.
 The group, which has promoted anti-corruption resolutions in
American cities, says it neither endorses nor opposes any
presidential candidate. Represent.Us said it would stage events in
33 cities.
Trump, a billionaire Republican, and Sanders, who describes himself
as a democratic socialist running for the Democratic nomination,
have both criticized the influence of large campaign contributions
in their surprising runs for the White House.
"It doesn't matter if you're conservative or progressive. Two
hundred and forty-three years after the original Boston Tea Party,
Americans of all political stripes are still facing taxation without
political representation," said Dan Krassner, political director of
Represent.Us.
About 40 activists attended the symbolic re-staging of the Boston
Tea Party near the spot where American colonists dumped tea into the
harbor to protest taxes levied by the British. Represent.Us
activists tossed a stack of wooden crates into the water,
representing campaign contributions.
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In Washington on Friday, Democracy Spring activists cuffed
themselves to scaffolding in the Capitol Rotunda.
"We the people demand a democracy free from the corruption influence
of big money and voter suppression," the protesters said in unison.
Another 130 were arrested for unlawful demonstrations, Capitol
Police said. A few hundred chanting demonstrators marched up Capitol
Hill with signs saying "Sweep Big Money out of Politics" and
"Corporations are not people." They also protested the high cost of
college loans, economic inequality and fracking.
"We need to get money out of politics and overturn Citizens United
(a Supreme Court decision on campaign contributions)," said David
Cheplowitz, 27, of Rochester, New York.
(Reporting by Valerie Vande Panne, Richard Cowan and Daniel Trotta;
Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by G Crosse)
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