Jason White
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson (right) at a march and sit-in at the office of U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was among 40 activists arrested on trespassing charges after “diligent people” rallied at a march and conducted a sit-in, intending to show Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) that her continued opposition to ending the filibuster is wrong.
The activists were arrested during the sit-in after refusing to leave private property, according to Phoenix police. Those arrested were cited for trespassing and subsequently released, according to Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Mercedes Fortune.
“We are willing to pay the price to help our nation,” Rev. Jackson said after his arrest.
A group called Repairers of the Breach organized the rally and sit-in, where more than 200 activists marched to Sinema’s posh Biltmore office.
“Sinema’s opposition to changing the filibuster is imperiling not only voting rights legislation but minimum wage, immigration and climate measures,” one organizer said.
Ending the filibuster would effectively allow Democrats to enact voting rights bills and raise the federal minimum wage to $15, as well as achieve other popular policy goals.