Pussy Riot

A group of protestors gathered this afternoon outside the Russian ambassador’s Washington residence to protest the jailing of the three Russian punk rock musicians from the group Pussy Riot. The musicians—Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29—were sentenced to two years in prison today for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” the BBC reported.

“We’re opposing Putin’s oppression of free expression,” one protestor said, standing on the sidewalk outside of the Russian mansion.

Protestors were carrying signs with slogans like, “America [hearts] Pussy Riot” and “Free Pussy Riot!”  A few protestors used printouts of Putin’s face as masks, a reference to the Pussy Riots’ use of masks in their offending demonstration in a Moscow cathedral about five months ago.

Several Secret Service officers were on the scene, though the protest was peaceful.

There were approximately 15 protestors, in addition to a person in a monkey costume who was referred to by others as the “truth monkey.”

Andrew Evans is an intern at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.