“We’re fighting for democracy, we shall not be moved,” rang out the call of People For members, staff, and coalition partners on October 5 as they gathered in front of the White House. That day, five voting rights activists were arrested in a demonstration calling on President Biden to take immediate and meaningful action for the freedom to vote.
WATCH: This is the moment five brave souls were arrested for fighting for our voting rights.
We won’t stop until President Biden uses his power to get the Senate to pass #VotingRightsNow! @BenJealous @cliff_notes @sisterquincy @RevDamico @DRLEWISLOGAN pic.twitter.com/de5aP83f3f
— People For the American Way (@peoplefor) October 5, 2021
The action was led by People For the American Way, the League of Women Voters of the United States, and the Declaration for American Democracy. A diverse group of activists, including actress Kathleen Turner, members of the clergy, and civil and voting rights advocacy leaders participated in the march to and demonstration in front of the White House.
The following individuals were arrested during the day’s action:
- Sister Quincy Howard of the Faithful Democracy Coalition;
- Noelle Damico of the Worker’s Circle;
- Reverend Lewis Logan of St. Paul AME Church, Covington, GA;
- Ben Jealous of People For the American Way; and
- Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter.
You can watch the full event here:
Later that evening, Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of the League of Women Voters, appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show to talk about why those five brave activists were spending the night in jail:
On October 6, Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by April D. Ryan (The Grio) and Eugene Daniels (POLITICO) about the arrests and what President Biden is doing to make progress on voting rights:
Hearing that President Biden is with us and that he’s frustrated isn’t enough. He needs to get the Senate to fix or nix the filibuster and pass #VotingRightsNow.
Thank you to the reporters like @AprilDRyan and @EugeneDaniels2 who are continuing to press on this critical issue. pic.twitter.com/JGOKkGZlR6
— Ben Jealous (@BenJealous) October 6, 2021
People For President Ben Jealous explains here why he felt this protest was so important:
We will continue to show up at the White House until we see the Biden-Harris administration step up their commitment to voters and work with the Senate to secure the votes necessary to pass federal voting rights legislation, including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.