On Jan. 20, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, was arrested alongside at least 20 others, including faith leaders and youth who have been hunger striking for our democracy. “Today, Congressman Jamaal Bowman joined a voting rights non-violent direct action at the North Barricade of the U.S. Capitol Building and was arrested by the U.S. Capitol Police,” said Marcus Frias, Director of Communications for Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D (NY-16). “We will provide more information and updates as we gather them.”
That was the only statement from Rep. Bowman’s office. We can also confirm that Bowman was arrested and then released. As of 330 pm EST he was not held in jail.
Rep. Bowman has been a supporter of protestors who have been protesting and demanding that the U.S. Senate pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after the civil rights hero. Bowman spent several hours with the protestors on Jan. 19, and upon his return Jan. 20, he crossed over a police line to encourage the protestors, and was then arrested.
Bowman was arrrested by the U.S. Capitol Police, who also arrested many of the protestors, some of who have been on a hunger strike for
All of the protests were non violent
Frias told The Journal News at 115pm that Bowman had not been released. But we were able to confirm that he was out of jail at 330EST.
On Twitter, the US Capitol Police wrote, “Just before 12:00 pm, demonstrators started blocking one side of the North Barricade outside the U.S. Capitol. We have already issued them three warnings. The demonstrators refused to move out of the driveway, so we are making arrests. We made a total of 27 arrests for Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding (DC Code § 22–1307), and one for violating U.S. Capitol Police Traffic Regulation Section 16.3 (Crowd Control).”
On Jan. 19, efforts in the U.S. Senate to pass the Lewis Voting Rights Act failed, as did an effort to change the filibuster rules. Senate democrats needed 60 votes, and the motion to end debate failed 51-49, with every democrat except for Senator. The makeup of the Senate is 50 democrats and 50 republicans, with Vice-President Harris breaking the tie in democrats favor when a simple majority is needed.
Democratic Senators Joe Manchin, and Kyrsten Sinema both oppose change the Senate rules concerning ending debate.
The protestors were organized by Un-PAC, and #Hungerstrike4democracy. Another progressive group, Frontline, posted, “Congressman Jamaal Bowman was arrested outside the Capitol as part of a voting rights protest. So police can’t arrest a bunch of right-wing terrorists storming the Capitol and killing officers, but they can manage to arrest a standing Congressman at his place of work because he supports voting rights.”
“It’s a shame that, 58 years later, we are here fighting for the same darn thing as Dr. Martin Luther King,” Rep. Bowman said. “Here is our charge in the coming weeks: We have to pass the For the People Act in the Senate, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate. The House has already done its job, so the Senate has to step up and do its job. But the Senate is not going to do its job if we do not exercise our unlimited power as the people of the United States of America.”
