Moral Monday ‘End The Filibuster’ Protestors Arrested For A Sit-In At Sen. Sinema’s Office

Update to Moral Monday at Sen. Sinema’s Office: End the Filibuster – Pass the For the People Act:

Having citizens lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech, to assembly, and to petition their senator for action on voting rights at her office arrested for trespass, as occurred last month, Activists Arrested For A Peaceful Protest At Senator Sinema’s Phoenix Office, is not going to win her any friends with anyone other than the most jackboot authoritarians in the Sedition Party. Is this really who Sen. Sinema wants to align with?

On Monday, Rev. Jesse Jackson among 39 arrested during sit-in protest at Sinema’s Phoenix office:

More than 30 people, including Revs. Jesse Jackson and Dr. William J. Barber II, were arrested outside of the Phoenix office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., during a sit-in demonstration.

On Monday, the Poor People’s Campaign led various rallies nationwide, in at least 27 states including Arizona, in an effort to stop the filibuster and “take the fight for democracy to the home offices of U.S. Senators.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, and Transformative Justice Coalition President Barbara Arnwine rallied in Phoenix and led a march to and a sit-in at the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. The rally began at 9 a.m., and at least dozens of people attended.

Around 10:15 a.m., the crowd began walking toward Sinema’s office.

According to a tweet from Stephen Roach Knight, assistant to Barber, over 30 people were arrested during the sit-in, including Knight, Arnwine and Revs. Barber and Jackson.

https://twitter.com/knightopia/status/1419759814972870691

On the way to jail, we’re gonna let it shine!

Arrests happening now in Phoenix.#MoralMonday pic.twitter.com/PiBAuL4j30

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 26, 2021

We’ve got to get these shackles off of our democracy. #MoralMonday pic.twitter.com/rd6GeZp6YB

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 26, 2021

Belén Sisa, Arizona campaign manager for Democracy Initiative, confirmed that Phoenix police arrested Revs. Barber and Jackson, state Sen. Martin Quezada, local faith leaders and other attendees.

“On Monday, over 30 people were arrested at Senator Sinema’s office while participating in nonviolent sit-in to demand that she end the filibuster, pass voting and workers’ rights legislation and raise the federal minimum wage to $15/an hour,” Sisa said in a statement.

https://twitter.com/SenQuezada29/status/1419850412362846209

https://twitter.com/SenQuezada29/status/1419779617074802690

The group was cited and released, Sisa said. According to the tweet from Knight, they were arrested on suspicion of criminal trespassing, which is the least serious tier of misdemeanor.

13-1502. Criminal trespass in the third degree; classification

A. A person commits criminal trespass in the third degree by:

1. Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully on any real property after a reasonable request to leave by a law enforcement officer, the owner or any other person having lawful control over such property, or reasonable notice prohibiting entry.

2. Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully on the right-of-way for tracks, or the storage or switching yards or rolling stock of a railroad company.

B. Pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section, a request to leave by a law enforcement officer acting at the request of the owner of the property or any other person having lawful control over the property has the same legal effect as a request made by the property owner or other person having lawful control of the property.

C. Criminal trespass in the third degree is a class 3 misdemeanor.

See below: it was the property manager (unidentified) of the building in which Sinema’s office is located who made the request to leave.

Is this part of the GQP-controlled Arizona Legislature’s new anti-protest law crackdown which only applies to Black Lives Matter and other minority protestors, and will never be enforced against MAGA/QAnon anti-COVID restrictions protests, Protesters rally at Arizona Capitol, calling for end of stay-at-home order (No arrests or citations were made in relation to Monday’s rally, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves), and seditious insurrectionists? Faced with defeat, armed protesters in Arizona insist election stolen; Trump supporters descend on Arizona voting center (The protesters in Phoenix on Wednesday evening, some of whom were reported to be carrying weapons, according to the local TV network ABC 15 Arizona, briefly tried to push into the centre before being asked to leave.) Our lawless Republican legislature does not believe in “equal justice under law.”

Jackson said at the scene that he was arrested for his act of civil disobedience but was then processed and released on-site without being booked into jail.

Phoenix police confirm arrests

At around 10:45 a.m., Phoenix police restricted Camelback Road between 32nd and 40th streets due to the march, according to a tweet.

According to Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department, at around 11 a.m., the property manager of the building requested the demonstrators leave the location and “the group ignored the property manager.”

“The group was then given verbal warnings to leave the property by Phoenix Police officers, which were also ignored,” Fortune said in a statement. “The group continued to refuse to leave and were interfering with normal business operations. Officers made announcements over loudspeaker asking the group to leave the premises.”

At approximately 11:45 a.m., 39 adults were arrested, Fortune said.

“All arrestees received citations in-lieu-of detention and have been released from police custody,” she said. Police did not name those arrested since they were not booked into jail, Fortune said.

Last month, activists also held a sit-in protest at Sinema’s north-central Phoenix office and 10 people received citations for trespassing in lieu of detention.

Speakers called to end filibuster, expand voting rights and raise federal minimum wage

The rally held at Kachina Park was organized to call for an end to the filibuster, for the passage of voting rights and workers’ rights legislation, and to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Barber and the other speakers at the event voiced their concerns about Sinema’s decisions to not vote against the filibuster or to not vote to raise the federal minimum wage.

“Arizona, you have a senator who is standing in the way of justice,” said Arnwine. “We need Senator Sinema to stand up for the people of America and do the right thing. She cannot be walking around talking about bipartisanship – Sinema, if you can’t show us 10 Republican votes on voting rights bills, then you need to vote the right way to end the filibuster.”

During his speech, Barber said the filibuster is “non-constitutional.”

“You should not be using a non-constitutional thing to block constitutional rights,” he said.

Speakers also called for the passage of the For the People Act. Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly voted in June to advance their party’s sweeping elections and ethics bill that would dramatically change the way Americans vote, but could not overcome a Republican filibuster.

“Today’s filibuster is a coward’s filibuster,” said Barber, adding that what is included in the act is same-day and online voting registration, granting formerly incarcerated people the right to vote, and establishing early voting in federal elections.

“If you’re against the For the People’s act or you’re hiding behind a filibuster, this is what you are blocking.”

Filibuster split, Sinema jettisoning Sinema spokesperson: ‘The filibuster helps protect the country’

Sinema, D-Ariz.,has won praise from the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (who has abused the senate filibuster more than any senator in the history ofthe Senate), and other GOP senators for her unflinching stance against ending the filibuster, which needs to clear a 60-vote hurdle in the evenly divided 100-member Senate.

For the first time, Sinema’s party controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate and the White House. The Democrats’ narrow margins in the House of Representatives and the Senate have given her support for keeping the legislative filibuster.

A spokesperson from Sen. Sinema’s office sent the following response to The Arizona Republic about the rally and sit-in.

“Kyrsten has asked those who want to eliminate the legislative filibuster to pass the For the People Act (voting-rights legislation she supports and has co-sponsored): would it be good for our country if we did, only to see that legislation rescinded a few years from now and replaced by a nationwide voter-ID law or restrictions on voting by mail in federal elections, over the objections of the Senate minority?” Sinema spokesperson John LaBombard said in an email. “That is one example of how the filibuster helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policy poles.”

John LaBombard should be fired. This is the “do nothing” response of a coward in the face of evil. The GQP is trying to destroy American democracy and to replace it with GQP authoritarianism. Has LaBombard already forgotten January 6? The GQP will do it again.

Does anyone seriously believe that the “Grim Reaper of the Senate,” Mitch McConnell will not eliminate the filibuster the first chance he gets if he regains control of the Senate? This is happening folks, it is only a question of who does it first. Democrats can do it for the forces of good; Mitch McConnell only does it for the forces of evil.

Thanks @AliVelshi & @Maddow for sharing @MSNBC tonight about the #PoorPeoplesCampaign actions across the country today! Now we’re headed to Texas for a #MarchForDemocracy. Join us! pic.twitter.com/FfZrpaPwOc

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 27, 2021