Dozens of protesters arrested after staging sit-in at Chuck Schumer’s DC office
Fifty-four protesters from the Sunrise Movement were arrested Thursday after staging a sit-in inside Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer's Washington DC office.
The protesters, who came from across the country including Schumer's home state of New York, delivered a letter arguing that after a decade of Schumer's leadership, it was time for change. They also dropped similar letters at the offices of every Senate Democrat.
In a video posted on the Sunrise Movement's Instagram, which garnered nearly 40,000 likes, protesters chanted: "Hey hey, ho ho, Schumer has got to go!" They held signs reading "The filibuster kills," "Stop the climate crisis," and "Schumer: Step up or step aside."
Leadership Challenge
As Senate Democrats prepare to vote on a majority leader for the upcoming Congress, several members have said they will not support Schumer. This includes Bernie Sanders and freshman senators like Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed and South Carolina's Annie Andrews. Some have backed Maryland's Chris Van Hollen as a challenger.
Young people went to Senator Chuck Schumer's office to demand a Senate majority leader that would fight for the young people who elected a historic blue wave last week. They're demanding change, not the same old, same old.
Youth Momentum
The protest comes after last month's elections saw the second-highest youth turnout for a midterm election in 30 years, according to Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. "Chuck Schumer has been in office longer than I have been alive, and I'm 31 years old," Girma said. "[Young people] didn't vote for a return to the Biden years, but rather a change."
The Sunrise Movement has organized similar protests since first making headlines in 2018 with a sit-in targeting then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last week, a Sunrise co-founder, Will Lawrence, won his race for a Michigan US House seat after campaigning against datacenters.
Continued Pressure
This isn't the first sit-in at Schumer's office this week. On Tuesday, three protesters were arrested during a demonstration by the youth advocacy group Get Free. The Sunrise Movement is planning further actions targeting Senate Democrats over the next two weeks, according to Girma.
The group is fundraising $24,000 to cover bail fees and potential legal costs for those arrested in Thursday's protest. "The election outcome shows that young people deeply, deeply care about their futures and the current government – but also, they're making clear demands around how to fix it," Girma said last week.
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