Arrested activists: We had no choice

Protesters plan to use the "necessity defense." (Jahi Chikwendiu/Post)

Anti-torture activists who were arrested earlier this year at the U.S. Capitol say they will tell a judge they had no choice but to resort to such action.

Twenty-seven members of Witness Against Torture were arrested at the Capitol on Jan. 21 as they called for President Barack Obama to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison.

At their trial on Monday for unlawful entry charges in Washington, activists say they plan to use a “necessity defense” — arguing they broke the law because they had exhausted all legal means of opposing the continued detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo.

-- Associated Press