Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) was arrested Thursday during a protest against Senate “inaction” regarding voting legislation and filibuster reform, Fox News reported.
“@BlackCaucus I was arrested today protesting against Senate inaction on voting rights legislation & filibuster reform. In the spirit of my dear friend and mentor – the late Congressman John Lewis – I was getting in #goodtrouble,” Johnson wrote in a tweet.
Video footage showed the representative with his hands tied behind his back. Protesters nearby chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets! Whose house? Our house!”:
Johnson delivered a speech at a voting rights rally outside the Supreme Court where members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined him, including Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and Rep. Al Green (D-TX).
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tia Mitchell shared photos and video clips of the event:
The group also marched to the Senate office building to demonstrate at the front entrance.
Capitol Police arrested 10 people for “unlawfully demonstrating outside of the Hart Senate Office Building,” the Fox report continued:
Johnson’s office said the congressman was arrested with a “group of Black male voting rights activists protesting against Senate inaction on voting rights legislation and filibuster reform.
“It was also in response to voter suppression bills and laws throughout the county, including Georgia, that target students, the elderly, and people of color,” his office told Fox News. All individuals were charged with “Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding.”
House Democrats and activists have urged the Senate to pass the “For the People Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act” to counter what they claim are attacks against minority voters.
House Democrats passed H.R. 1, also known as the “For the People Act” in March, according to Breitbart News.
“The bill would radically change American democracy, nationalizing elections and making permanent changes to voting rules that would virtually ensure Democrats never lose another election,” the outlet said:
The bill is 791 pages long — a massive piece of legislation, adopted with little examination or debate. Some provisions — like expanding access for voters with disabilities, improving election security, and ensuring that all voting machines use in U.S. elections are also manufactured in the U.S. — are uncontroversial. Others are potentially explosive.
During a recent interview on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blasted the so-called “For the People Act.”
“[T]his is an extraordinarily cynical bill, in my opinion, even by Washington standards. It’s very ruthless, even by Washington standards,” Kennedy stated. “Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer call it, I think, the ‘For the People Act’ but I think it would be more aptly described as ‘Screw the People Act.'”
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