Hundreds arrested at Capitol while protesting for voting rights, minimum wage
Category: News & Politics
Via: jbb • 3 years ago • 36 commentsBy: Jack Jenkins (Religion News Service)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Monday's action on the Hill constituted one of the largest mass-arrest nonviolent protests at the Capitol in recent memory.
People participate in a Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins August 2, 2021 By Jack Jenkins
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As police escorted a demonstrator in a wheelchair away from the chanting throng descending on the Capitol Monday (Aug. 2), fellow protesters turned to watch the person go. The group paused for a moment, then altered their call.
They screamed in unison: "Thank you! We love you!"
The lone protester nodded, fist raised. The crowd erupted in applause.
It was a moment that played out again and again over the course of the afternoon. According to Capitol police, more than 200 faith-led demonstrators were arrested while praying, singing and protesting in the street, hoping to draw attention to voting rights and a slate of other issues participants argued impact the poor and low-wage workers.
Activists are arrested during a Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
The sprawling demonstration was organized by the Poor People's Campaign, an advocacy group led by the Rev. William Barber II and the Rev. Liz Theoharis that tends to support left-leaning policies. Monday's action on the Hill constituted one of the largest mass-arrest nonviolent protests at the Capitol in recent memory and attracted an array of prominent voices, including civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughter of late President Lyndon B. Johnson.
At a rally near the Capitol immediately before the march, leaders laid out what they insisted were interconnected issues driving their protest, which centered on voting rights, immigration reform, a $15 an hour federal minimum wage and eliminating the Senate filibuster that has stymied passage of related federal legislation.
"Filibuster is a sin!" Barber declared. "Making essential workers work during a pandemic — and risk their lives to save this country — and then not give them a living wage is sin."
The event also featured music. Singers led the crowd in belting: "Somebody's hurting my brother, and it's gone on far too long. And we won't be silent anymore!" The singers changed the lyrics as the song progressed, inserting lines such as "Somebody's stealing our wages!" and "Somebody's blocking our voting rights!"
The Rev. Rev. Liz Theoharis, center left, and the Rev. William Barber lead a Poor People's Campaign demonstration march in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
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The song echoes the sweeping, evolving agenda articulated by a variety of faith leaders across the country in recent months, particularly those who operate within religious communities of color.
The Poor People's Campaign took a leading role in propelling that agenda this summer in the wake of Republican-led efforts to pass state-level elections bills many activists decry as restrictive. Indeed, Monday's march follows what organizers called a "season" of similar demonstrations organized by the PPC over the past two months in Washington, Arizona and most recently Texas, where activists mimicked the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The group walked 27 miles from Georgetown to Austin, Texas, in late July to oppose voting restrictions.
Texas pastor the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, who joined the Texas march and has vigorously opposed state elections bills, was among the speakers at the Washington rally.
"President Biden, Democrats and Republicans, the culture will put it like this: If you come for us and we didn't send for you, you don't want this smoke," said the Progressive National Baptist, whose denominational convention is happening this week. "You don't want this smoke because we are fighting for the soul of this nation."
The activists' efforts have hit roadblocks with some Democrats at the national level, particularly Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona. Both opposed efforts to pass minimum wage increases and eliminate the filibuster this year — in Manchin's case, despite a meeting with Barber and low-wage workers. The Poor People's Campaign has since targeted bothlawmakers with protests.
The Rev. William Barber, right, and the Rev. Liz Theoharis, second from right, lead a Poor People's Campaign demonstration march in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
Barber was quick to harangue members of both parties during the rally, accusing some Democrats of heaping praise on late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis but failing to support his vision for voting rights.
"Some Democrats told us: 'If y'all organize, don't connect wages to voting rights,'" Barber said. "I'm too old to play that."
He added: "The same people suppressing the votes suppress your wages, won't fix your utility grids, suppress your health care, cut public education, block living wages — you've got to make the connection."
Barber also offered his own adaptation of the Scripture passage from Isaiah 10:1-3:
"Woe unto you hypocrites who pay attention to all of Robert's Rules (of order), all the made up rules of the Senate and the House, but you filibuster justice. And filibuster mercy. And you filibuster faithfully."
Barber was briefly joined at the rally by Sen. Raphael Warnock, himself a prominent Georgia pastor. However, Barber explained Warnock would not speak because the campaign generally does not let politicians address their protests. Warnock is a champion of the For the People Act, a federal voting rights legislation Barber and others praised but Manchin opposed.
RELATED: Jesse Jackson, William Barber arrested protesting filibuster and Manchin
Among the clergy milling about the crowd — which also included many red-shirted members of the labor union Unite Here! — were the Rev. Patrick Messer, a United Church of Christ pastor who just left a church in Nebraska, and the Rev. Deana Oliva, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Kentucky.
Asked what spurred them to be part of the protest, Oliva was aghast at the thought of not participating — "Where else would we be?" — and Messer pointed to Jesus.
"I'm here because in Jesus' first sermon he said the spirit is upon me to bring good news to the poor, and to bring deliverance to the captive," Messer said. "We're here to bring a $15 minimum wage to all workers, restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and pass all the provisions of the For the People Act and end the filibuster."
Luci Baines Johnson, center, speaks during a Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
The daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson — who signed the Voting Rights Act into law — also addressed the crowd at the event. Luci Baines Johnson noted she could not speak for her father, but insisted he would have wanted her to be with activists "in the fight for social justice and voting rights." After voicing support for the For the People Act and the John Lewis Act, another voting rights bill, she invoked Scripture while calling for bipartisanship.
"In the 1960s, Democrats and Republicans stood up together for social justice," she said. "It was the right thing then, and it's the right thing now. Now more than ever before, we need to — in the words of Isaiah — come and reason together to get a more just America for everybody."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson also addressed the crowd, bemoaning what he called a nation "in crisis" and voicing a willingness to go to jail for the cause.
He led the group in a call-and-response chant: "I am! Somebody! I may be poor! But I am! Somebody! I may be unemployed! But I am! Somebody! I may not have health care! But I am! Somebody! Respect me! Protect me! Elect me! I am! God's child!"
Others who delivered either speeches or prayers at the event included prominent Muslim American activist Linda Sarsour, National Council of Churches President Jim Winkler, Simple Way founder Shane Claiborne, activist and former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe Wendsler Nosie and several low-wage workers or people impacted by poverty.
Wendsler Nosie, an Apache activist, speaks during a Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
After the speeches, the activists massed into a column and marched toward the Capitol, with clergy walking alongside low-wage workers and those impacted by poverty. Tensions briefly flared with police when they insisted demonstrators stay on the sidewalk for one stretch of their march. Protesters initially refused, walking past police before a wave of new officers arrived and corralled the group off the street.
Demonstrators took to the street a short time later after processing past the Supreme Court toward the Hart Senate building. One column of protesters stayed on the sidewalk, but a separate group — including Barber, Theoharis, Jackson and what appeared to be Messer and Oliva — positioned themselves in the middle of the road, refusing to move. Some briefly requested entry to the Hart building at Barber's urging, but police rebuffed them, and they returned to the street.
Activists are arrested during a Poor People's Campaign demonstration in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
As demonstrators sang and chanted ("What do we want? Voting rights! When do we want them? Now!"), officers began arresting those in the road one by one, carefully leading them away. Cheers rose up as Theoharis, Barber and Jackson were arrested, and they were followed by hundreds more: clergy of multiple faiths, low-wage workers, young activists and elderly people in walkers or wheelchairs were all among those arrested.
When each one arrived at the area where other arrestees were waiting to be processed, shouts and applause rang out.
It remains to be seen how lawmakers will react to the growing protest movement. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio was spotted walking quickly past the protest. When demonstrators shouted for the end of the filibuster, he quickly replied, "I agree with you," a reference to his public willingness to end the filibuster if Republicans continue to use it to block liberal legislation.
The mixture of religious and labor demonstrators appeared to be clear in their cause on Monday and dedicated to convincing Congress to support it. They sang many songs, but one favorite seemed to be aimed directly at lawmakers: It simply asked, over and over, "Which side are you on?"
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Yes, even peaceful protesters get arrested in DC.
Who says peaceful protesters aren't being arrested?
Wow, just wow. Just shaking my head. Really, really hard to believe.
(The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan)
How is this hard to believe?
One column of protesters stayed on the sidewalk, but a separate group — including Barber, Theoharis, Jackson and what appeared to be Messer and Oliva — positioned themselves in the middle of the road, refusing to move.
They did this to get arrested, you know, for the photo op. They needed a lot to get arrested for photo ops and did what they knew would get them arrested, so the large number of arrests.
Oh, and there should be a call to remove the tax exempt status of some of the churches represented there, they are there for political reasons.
It's hard to believe that there can be protests WITHOUT rioting and looting - the question in my mind is which is more effective?
There's been plenty of protests without rioting and looting, they just don't make the news as was pointed out by Thomas below. What made the news was the comparison to 1/6/20 and the amount of arrests that came with each event, even though the arrested from this protest wouldn't have made news if it wasn't for 1/6.
Okay, understood. I agree with Thomas' comment.
Ok, now let's see if we can answer Thomas' implied question of "Why?"
With the backdrop of 1/6 and the DC police are the heroes of 1/6 as portrayed by the media and the democrats. Now you have a protest that will require the DC police to arrest the good citizens and therefore are now the villain, well you can't have it both ways when the optics of the moment need them to be the heroes. So the best way around this dilemma is to not cover it. BTW I consider the DC police as heroes in both instances, the people in both instances put them in difficult situations.
This protest had nothing to do with 1/6. Nothing.
The police are tasked with maintaining order through the enforcement of laws. The stereotyping of the police as either all-hero or all-villain is the setting up of a false dichotomy. Police are people, and while propensities toward certain actions may exist within the definition of the job at hand, the individuals all have their own reasoning for serving. It is precisely the setting up of this type of false dichotomy (good vs evil) that leads to the type of actions seen on display at the storming of the US Capitol.
I would contend that the protest had little press coverage because it was a bunch of poor people trying to get a little, i.e. a living wage, among other things. They didn't have the glamourous or rich people there so it was not covered. The only way a protest to attract attention in that case is civil disobedience. Even with the large number of people arrested, they still struggled to gain mention in the media. Yet I see shit in my news feed every day about some stupid person doing something totally inane and useless.
So you would also say that it was the media that dropped the ball on this protest with the lack of coverage, even with all the arrests?
So the news medias are not concerned with the poor peoples plight, that's quite a change from 1/6, which is what my contention that the media elevated the police to heroes of 1/6 and now the hearings in congress, but the press would then be forced to show the police arresting the poor people who just want a living wage as the villain and therefore decide not to cover it, you don't find that concerning?
The media, whomever that may be, may not have even known about the protest, much as the rest of the country. It does not generate much in the way of eyeballs to have the headline, "Poor People Protest Systemic Inequities," so it is more than likely that no reporter was even there to cover the event from most media. The Washington Post had a beat reporter there. The Religion News Service reported it because it was lead by religious people. I very much doubt that it even hit the radar of most other outlets, no matter what their affiliation or editorial bent.
Not at all. See above. Things happen all over that might have made a bigger splash had they had pre-press coverage.
I would have to say that this is a non-sequitur, unless you can show how the protestors on 1/6 were protesting for a living wage and were for the most part involved with poor people and their issues and further,that the news media was covering it for this reason. I do not think that such a relationship is possible to draw in an honest and factual way.
A WTF moment for America.
Very little reporting of this event at all. Made the Washington Post, but in the local section . This is the type of action that needs to be shown to the rest of the country, not just on local news stations. The media should, IMO, be covering actions like this one to show that peaceful protest can be achieved. If they would cover more of this type of event, the opinions of a good many people could be made to favor the protestors and their causes.
"The activists' efforts have hit roadblocks with some Democrats at the national level, particularly Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona. Both opposed efforts to pass minimum wage increases and eliminate the filibuster this year — in Manchin's case, despite a meeting with Barber and low-wage workers. The Poor People's Campaign has since targeted both lawmakers with protests."
Good job! Keep it up!
I don't trust these two at all. I think they're working for the 'right/today's gqp' and not the people who they are supposed to represent.
They are not working for the GOP. That is a logical fallacy. They represent the Blue Dog Democrats in their home districts and, considering they keep getting reelected, are doing it well. Sometimes I agree with their positions and sometimes I don't.
Whatever, I don't trust them.
LOL! I don't trust ANY politician. I think that's in the job description.
You know about a wolf in sheep's clothing, well IMO Manchin is a Republican in Democrat clothing.
Awwww ..... got a little too close to the Senate building eh?
All that insurrection rhetoric is starting to catch up to some disaffected liberals ..... so cry me a river ....
what constitutionally mandated process were these protesters trying to interrupt?
Don't bother asking. It is just Sparty On's attempt to equate peaceful protests, with the republican's violent attempt to overthrow the government. He'll never answer your question, just deflect and distract.
Nah, the post sez what it sez and it doesn't say that. And you are also confused regarding the reasons for silence in this case.
Very confused .....
Yup, deflect and distract, just like I said.
Wrong again, same as the first time.
Yup, just like always! Some posters say they're here for the comic relief when they're the ones providing the comic relief.
They were arrested because they standing in the street, told to move, and refused. You would probably know that if you had actually read the article
yeah, police instructions seem too hard for these nut jobs to follow.
Nah, don't need to read the article again but you might want to read, rinse and repeat my post again as necessary.
The Capital Police have PTSD and were just protecting themselves with their actions .....
So thousands of Trumphumpers storm the Capital Building, cause thousands in damage, kill a cop and call for the overthrow of Congress and they all get to go home. While this group peacefully protests at the steps sets a record for arrests. We truly live in a fucked up country right now.
This doesn't bode well for Biden, the protests against his mis-administration of both domestic and foreign policy is just beginning.
The simps that voted for him are sadly learning that the Dems promise a lot but end up giving little. Things like very generous unemployment benefits and non eviction mandate have a way of giving the poor and disadvantaged reason to expect the largesse to continue indefinitely.
meh, it could have been worse. they could've been a mob of tea party morons protesting some non-existent loss of their freedom.
Better than the Turd Reich and his trumpturdians who offered everything and gave NOTHING except to himself and those who paid for their positions like that rich bitch Betsy DeVos.
I wish I knew who flagged that, and why...
As if the Insurrectionists were not, "Asked to leave".