Protesting and demonstrations have taken center-stage in America during the past few years. And it isn’t only concerned citizens who are hitting the streets to call out various issues.
Now we’re seeing elected officials caught up in the unrest. In fact, more than a few politicians have already been arrested for participating in unlawful protests around the country.
And you can chalk up two more arrests for a couple Democrat leaders.
In only the past few weeks, several Democrat lawmakers have been led away in handcuffs for demonstrating at the U.S. Capitol.
For example, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) was arrested on Tuesday for demonstrating in support of federal voting legislation.
Then Rev. Jesse Jackson and 200 other protesters were all taken into custody, also for pushing sweeping election laws. It was the second time in less than a week that Jackson had been arrested.
Now, two more Democrats have been taken away for similar reasons.
This time it’s Texas state Reps. Al Green and Ron Reynolds, who were arrested at a rally organized by the National Clergy United for Justice. Jackson and Al Sharpton were also in attendance.
From the Texas Tribune:
Green, a Houston Democrat, told The Texas Tribune that he and his colleagues moved to the street after praying in front of the Supreme Court when they were approached by Capitol police.
He said protesters were told they would be arrested if they hadn’t moved after three warnings.
According to Green’s office, the lawmakers were arrested on charges of ‘crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.’
As for Rep. Reynolds, he’s the first Texas House Democrat to be arrested during the group’s escape to D.C. He was one of many that fled Texas to block a voting restrictions bill from going through.
They took up the fight again in the nation’s Capitol, trying to convince the federal government to pass certain voting rights laws.
Said Reynolds in regards to their efforts:
I think that our position is strong.
We’re essentially a few days away from killing all [Gov. Greg] Abbott’s items that he put on call for the special session.
However, Gov. Abbott isn’t about to quit. In fact, the Governor has pledged that he will continue calling special sessions until the Republican voting bill passes.
On top of that, Democrat efforts to get their voting laws passed have hit a roadblock: the filibuster.
The filibuster has halted their progress on this issue, and it’s even supported by other Democrat leaders like Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.
Republicans say their voting rules are just straightforward common sense — if you want to vote in this country, you should be a citizen, and you have to prove who you are (voter ID).
Many Americans do agree with that viewpoint, too.
But obviously, Democrats aren’t about to side with this stance, and continue to believe that the GOP’s existing and proposed laws unfairly discriminate against certain U.S. residents.
Even so, the police aren’t about to let them get away with breaking the law.