Just spoke with Barbara Arnwine who was arrested yesterday along with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, and more than 30 others attempting a peaceful protest to petition US senator Kyrsten Sinema’s support for the filibuster, which is stopping the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
On the way to jail, we’re gonna let it shine!
Arrests happening now in Phoenix.#MoralMonday pic.twitter.com/PiBAuL4j30
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 26, 2021
This is no pretend bust as with those protests in DC where you get a violation like a parking ticket. No joke, Arnwine and Rev. Jackson are facing six months in a Phoenix Arizona prison.
Compare this to the treatment of the January 6 rioters. This morning we heard testimony by a Capitol policeman describing how he was nearly beaten to death. The people who beat him were not booked, not even asked to identify themselves, and were given an escort out of the building.
Roughly 200 protestors, Arizona lawmakers and civil rights leaders, including @RevJJackson, @RevDrBarber and @BarbaraArnwine, are staging a sit-in and march to Sen. @kyrstensinema’s office right now urging her to #EndTheFilibuster and pass legislation like the For the People Act. pic.twitter.com/EsXm9jvbCr
— Lorraine Longhi 🌵 (@lolonghi) July 26, 2021
Arnwine, on leave as professor of law from Columbia University, was very concerned that our friend, Rev. Jackson, 79 with Parkinson’s disease, might became ill during the bust.
I’d like to ask Senator Sinema why her Senate office is not in a federal building but in a private building where trespass laws can be used against people trying to meet with her. Senator Joe Manchin has pulled the same trick.
It was a deep honor to lead a march and sit-in alongside the great Rev. Jesse Jackson and @RevDrBarber today.
39 of us, Arizonans & powerful allies from across the nation, were arrested at @KyrstenSinema's office demanding that she #EndTheFilibuster so we can save our democracy. pic.twitter.com/xvTgxGCcqS
— Kai Newkirk #EndTheFilibuster (@kai_newkirk) July 27, 2021
Years back, I was in Arizona reporting on the Republican Secretary of State removing more than 100,000 Hispanics from the voter rolls. It was only through the efforts of Rev. Jackson, Arnwine, and our friends at the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project that thousands of those removed were re-registered.
Without their help, Sen. Sinema, you wouldn’t be in office. Why wouldn’t you meet with the group of attorneys and religious leaders, including Rev. William Barber, to discuss the voting rights law that will prevent you from being Jim Crowed out of office?
We’ve got to get these shackles off of our democracy. #MoralMonday pic.twitter.com/rd6GeZp6YB
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 26, 2021
Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits and the book and documentary,
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
His latest film is Vigilante: Georgia's Vote Suppression Hitman
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