The battle for voting rights rages on: Republicans claim they simply want voting laws for the sake of election integrity, while Democrats claim such rules violate the voting rights of certain people.
But no matter what you think, you’re not allowed to break the law. Numerous protests have erupted throughout the country in 2021, and some elected officials have attended.
Johnson led a group of protesters railing against Senate “inaction” on voting legislation and filibuster reform: he gave a speech at the voting rights rally in front of the Supreme Court.
After the speech, they all marched to the Senate office building and chanted, “This is what democracy looks like.”
But Capitol Police refused to look the other way.
From Fox News:
Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson was arrested by Capitol police Thursday while protesting Senate ‘inaction’ on voting legislation and filibuster reform.
Capitol Police told Fox News they arrested 10 individuals for ‘unlawfully demonstrating’ in front of the Hart Senate building.
Shortly after, Rep. Johnson shared a tweet of him being led away in handcuffs:
Johnson’s office later confirmed that police had arrested other members of the group, and claimed they were only protesting “voter suppression bills and laws throughout the country.”
But now, they’re all facing the charge of “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.”
Beatty was taken into custody along with 8 other protesters for “illegal demonstration activity,” and Beatty said something similar to Johnson after his arrest:
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.
Democrats can continue to say the laws somehow infringe on Constitutional rights, but most Republicans and many American citizens disagree.
They say the laws are just in place to prevent voter fraud. And right now, election integrity remains a critical topic — and it’ll become even more important the closer we get to the midterm elections in 2022.