Peace organizations staged a nonviolent “occupation” of the Hart Senate office building Thursday, calling on Democrats to end the Iraq war.

Fellow protesters and Senate staffers looked on, leaning over railings above Hart’s ground-floor atrium, as demonstrators read personal information about U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. The demonstrators spoke from a circle of cardboard headstones, each displaying the photo of a U.S. soldier who had been killed.

“The point we’re trying to make is that since January 4th the Democrats have had the chance to end the war,” said Kevin Zeese, director of Democracy Rising, a participating group. “Instead of ending it they are extending it.”

Zeese and other protesters said they were frustrated with the Democrats’ emergency war-funding supplemental. The Senate version of that bill recommends a withdrawal date of March 31, 2008; the House version, seen as a tougher anti-war measure, includes a binding date of Aug. 31, 2008.

“Even after their deadline there are loopholes that will allow the commander in chief to keep as many troops as he or she wants in Iraq,” Zeese added.

U.S. Capitol Police formed a protective circle around the demonstrators for roughly 20 minutes before taking their signs and arresting them.

According to one group’s spokeswoman, six activist groups participated.

Amid the protesters and police were several high school groups on tour visiting the Capitol. Reactions from the students were mixed.

One girl shouted at the demonstration’s organizers, “You’re not in there fighting for the country, so you don’t know!”

Sam Kielion of Logan View, Neb., said the protest was “the coolest part of our trip,” and voiced support for its message. Kielion, whose cousin was killed in Iraq, came to Hart to meet Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), as did students from four other Nebraska high schools.

Nelson, who spoke with the students in Hart’s atrium, said of the protest, “It’s freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, and when it’s done in a way that’s respectful of the law, it’s the American way.”