Yesterday, civil rights leader (and congressman) John Lewis led House Democrats in an act of old-fashioned protest: a sit-in.
The sit-in came after Republicans in Congress refused (again) t0 vote on gun control legislation; elected officials, who aren’t usually the ones you see on the front lines of protests, took over the House floor, holding signs with the names of victims of gun violence.
Several members of the House from Maryland were vocal participants in the protest, most notably Rep. Donna Edwards, who killed it on MSNBC and also rallied the crowds outside, saying she was speaking on behalf of the 340 people in Maryland killed with guns last year. Maryland’s two senators, Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, came over to join the sit-in, too.
The state’s token Republican, good old Andy Harris (sigh), was predictably ornery about the whole thing: “Once again, Democrats in Congress are politicizing the gun control debate and distracting us from addressing the real threat of radical Islamic terrorism,” he said. “Instead of offering up solutions, they have chosen to gather together and disrupt House business, including approving funding to fight Zika, which is now being delayed by their action.”
