Rep. Jamaal Bowman, other activists arrested at capitol for protesting Senate filibuster

Rep. Jamaal Bowman was one of 28 protesters arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 20 as they called for the Senate to alter its 60-vote legislative filibuster to pass two major election reform bills.

Bowman’s spokesperson Marcus Frias said in a statement that the lawmaker took part in 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.”

On December 6th, 20 members of un-PAC, a nonpartisan advocacy group, launched a hunger strike outside the state capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, to encourage their senators, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in particular to support the Freedom to Vote Act.

“Our elected leaders were failing to act, and we took decisive action when they wouldn’t,” 27-year-old Shana Gallagher, co-founder and executive director of the group, told Mother Jones. 

The Youth Activists said in a statement that they “will not forget which of our Senators stood up for democracy, and which stood aside as it crumbled.”

Capitol Police said that they repeatedly warned protesters not to block the north barricade before making the arrests around noon. 

“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,” they tweeted. 

“The Capitol and the House is supposed to be the people’s house. I went… over to them to shake their hands to show them love. As I was doing that, an officer came over to me and said you’re under arrest, Bowman, whose district includes both the Bronx and Westchester, told the Bronx Times.