U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who has served in Congress since 1995, was taken into custody Thursday during a voting-rights protest in Washington, D.C.
The 71-year-old congresswoman, a native of New York City who served as a city council member in Houston before being elected to her U.S. House seat, posted a photo on Twitter that showed her with zip ties around her wrists and being escorted by a police officer following her arrest.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is arrested by a member of U.S. Capitol Police as she participates in a civil disobedience during a protest outside Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, July 29, 2021. (Getty Images)
“I will NEVER stop fighting for Voting Rights!” Lee wrote in the post. “The time is NOW to move the voting rights bills in the US Senate forward!! Enough is enough.”
Lee included the hashtag #GoodTrouble, a reference to a term for political activism that was favored by the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., for whom a voting rights proposal is named.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is arrested by a member of U.S. Capitol Police as she participates in a civil disobedience during a protest outside Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, July 29, 2021. (Getty Images)
Democrats have been opposing election-related laws being passed or considered in states around the country, arguing that Republican-backed changes have been thinly veiled attempts to discourage minorities from voting. Republicans have countered that their proposals have been aimed at ensuring the integrity of elections by creating obstacles against voter fraud.
After Lee was released, she posted a video in which she spoke about her arrest and urged the passage of the voting rights bills in Congress. The specific charges she faced, and the conditions of her release, were not immediately clear.
Lee became at least the third House Democrat to be arrested in recent weeks during a voting-rights protest. Other Democrats arrested recently included U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty of Ohio and Hank Johnson of Georgia.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is arrested by a member of U.S. Capitol Police as she participates in a civil disobedience during a protest outside Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, July 29, 2021. (Getty Images)
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The Harris County Democratic Party in Texas released a statement after Lee’s arrest.
“Once again we see a Black woman at the forefront of defending our civil rights and leading the fight to save our fragile democracy,” Odus Evbagharu, chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, said in the release. “Congresswoman Lee understands we are at a pivotal moment in the history of our nation, where our sacred right to vote is under grave threat. She recognizes that we all must take action to protect this right.”
