Noreen Grimm stands next to her husband David Grimm, both from Pittsburgh, Pa., holding a portrait of President George Washington during a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits.
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Leaders in the Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Protesters cheer as large trucks arrive at a rally at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. Leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, waves at a rally at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. Leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. To Lee’s right is tea party activists and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a rally at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, as leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Tea Party activist and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin cheers during a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. Leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. Leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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A protester speaks to people gathered at a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, has leaders in the U.S. Senate have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial, subsequent to the shutdown, and lack of access to it by World War II veterans, who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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People rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial and access to it by World War II veterans who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. The memorial has been closed due to the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Kaylee Cantrell, left, 13, from Lexington Park, Md., with Sherry Cantrell and Michael Cantrell, both from Crossville, Tenn., pose for a photo in front of a sign and removed barricades at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial and access to it by World War II veterans who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. The memorial has been closed to the public since the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, arrives for a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, to protest, as she said, how politicians used “your hard-earned tax money to barricade the memorials” during the federal government shutdown. She called it a “slimdown,” saying it only halted a small part of the “bloated” government. The Memorial has been closed to the public since the shutdown. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks at a rally near the World War II Memorial in Washington Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. The rally was organized to protest the closure of the Memorial and access to it by World War II veterans who traveled there on Honor Flight visits. The memorial has been closed due to the partial federal government shutdown. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, pushing through barriers Sunday morning to protest the memorial’s closing under the government shutdown.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who gathered Sunday morning, along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, according to WTOP Radio (http://bit.ly/GXQKGV ). Cruz said President Barack Obama is using veterans as pawns in the shutdown.
“Tear down these walls,” the crowd chanted. Protesters also sang “God bless America” and other patriotic songs as they entered the memorial plaza.
The memorial has become a political symbol in the bitter fight between Democrats and Republicans over who is at fault since the shutdown began. Earlier rallies have focused on allowing access for World War II veterans visiting from across the country with the Honor Flight Network.
Sunday’s rally was more political. A protest by truckers converged with a rally by a group called the Million Vet March at the World War II Memorial. Participants cut the links between metal barriers at the National Park Service site and pushed them aside.
Jeff Thompkins of New York told WRC-TV (http://bit.ly/169jTp4 ) he was there because people fight and died for the freedom to visit public spaces and to protest.
“Our constitutional rights are being taken away,” Thompkins said. “People made the ultimate sacrifice, and they should be open to the public, open to everyone to come down here and see this. This is ridiculous. This is not just and not fair. It’s just not fair.”
