Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Arrested For Civil Disobedience Over Voting Rights Invoice – Houston Public Media
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, speaks during a subcommittee hearing on the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigation of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 4, 2017.
WASHINGTON – US MP Sheila Jackson Lee was arrested Thursday in the US Capitol for civil disobedience in support of a federal voting law.
“Yes, I committed civil disobedience in front of the Hart Building in Washington DC today and was arrested,” the Houston Democrat said in a video posted on Twitter.
It was unclear what Jackson Lee was doing in the building to initiate the arrest.
The Hart Senate Office Building is one of three buildings within the larger US Capitol complex that houses the offices of Senators, including US Sens. Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona. These two Democrats are the targets of lobbying to change Senate rules to pass a state voting bill.
Jackson Lee’s arrest coincides with an ongoing battle for access to voting within the Texas legislature. Across town where she was arrested, dozens of Texas House Democrats are staying in a hotel after they fled the state earlier this month to stop the passage of a state bill that would restrict the right to vote .
While here, they are lobbying federal lawmakers to get a federal voting bill that would override measures on the Austin agenda.
The congresswoman also posted photos of the arrest, including pictures of her in zippered handcuffs.
“I believe that if you get into big trouble realizing that the 15th Amendment guarantees the basic right to vote, any action that is a peaceful act of civil disobedience is worthy and more to make us all do it to do better and to do more, ”she added.
“Good trouble” is the term used by the late United States Congressman John Lewis, a veteran of the 1960s civil rights protests, who calls for disregard for moral good laws.
Jackson Lee is not the first member to be arrested this way in the past few weeks. Ohio MP Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, of which Jackson Lee is a member, was arrested in the same building earlier this month.
The Texas Grandstand is a non-profit, non-partisan media organization that educates and works with Texans on public order, politics, government and statewide issues.
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