Rep. Hank Johnson was arrested on Thursday (July 22) on Capitol Hill while protesting to protect voting rights. The Georgia Democrat was one of 10 Black lawmakers and activists who were arrested at the demonstration. According to the Associated Press, all 10 men were processed and later released.
“In the spirit of his dear friend and mentor — the late Congressman John Lewis — Rep. Johnson was getting in ‘good trouble’ fighting for and protecting civil and voting rights for all Americans,” the congressman’s spokesperson Andy Phelan said in a statement.
The protest, called “Brothers Day of Action on Capitol Hill,” was organized by Black Voters Matter. Along with Rep. Johnson; Black Voters Matter’s Cliff Albright, Rev. Mark Thompson, Color of Change President Rashad Robinson, Former NAACP president Cornell William Brooks and more called on Congress to end the filibuster and pass the For The People Act. The men chanted, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The filibuster has got to go!”
Capitol Police arrested the demonstrators after they blocked the entrance to the Hart Senate Office Building and accused them of “unlawfully demonstrating. The men were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
The protest was a follow-up to the demonstration led by Black women on July 15 where Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty was arrested. In a statement after she and eight others were arrested, Beatty said, “I stand in solidarity with Black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional right to vote. We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything systematically dismantled and restricted by those who wish to silence us. Be assured this is just the beginning. This is our power. Our message.”
Earlier this week, REVOLT reported that Vice President Kamala Harris was in talks with Republicans about the For The People Act.
“There is a lot of work to be done. There is no question about that,” she told CBS News. “I join the chorus in saying that everyone has to approach this issue with a sense of urgency and a sense of deep-seated commitment to fighting against these efforts to suppress the vote.”
The legislation would change campaign finance laws, automate voter registration, ban partisan gerrymandering, expand access to early and absentee voting and more.
See Rep. Johnson’s tweet from his arrest below.