Dozens arrested as Sunrise Movement members protest at Democrat leader’s office
Dozens of young people were arrested Thursday as members of the Sunrise Movement protested in a sit-in at the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to a statement from Sunrise.
Photo courtesy Sunrise Movement
The group was “demanding a new Senate Majority Leader and the abolition of the fillibuster,” according to the statement, which said another 150 people visited other Senate Democrat offices.
Several of those arrested included Michigan residents.
“I am here because Chuck Schumer does not represent the voice of the people and we need to see immediate change. I can’t stand by and watch everything we fought for in the election go to waste. We need to end the filibuster and elect a senate majority leader who actually has our best interests at heart.” – Tyler Coffindaffer, 20, Senior at MSU
“The Serbian student movement liberated their government for the people, the U.S. is next!” Marija Nestorović, 19, MSU Student in East Lansing
Quotes provided by Sunrise Movement
Sunrise Movement was co-founded by incoming U.S. Rep. William Lawrence and incoming U.S. Sen. Abdul El-Sayed was previously a board member. In the statement, the group says they made nearly a million voter contact attempts in “key states like Michigan, Maine and Texas and helped swing young people by 40 points to Democrats.”
“Chuck Schumer has been in Congress longer than I have been alive. Young people voted in droves for change in this country. We voted for an end to the Iran oil war, to stop financing the genocide of Palestinian people, for green jobs not endless data centers and a Congress that finally delivers for its people and stops the climate crisis. We won’t get that with has-been leadership and a logjam filibuster,” said 28-year-old Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay.
Sunrise said this year has the “largest class of Green New Deal champions, with 24 candidates including Sunrise Movement co-founder and East Lansing native Will Lawrence, previous board member Abdul El-Sayed, and incoming Senator Troy Jackson.”
