Protesters now holding a sit-in in @SenatorSessions' Senate office, which is right across the hall from his confirmation hearing. pic.twitter.com/BunxhzvFqi
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 10, 2017
As controversial Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, protesters critical of Sessions interrupted the confirmation hearing in an attempt to express their outrage over potential Attorney General’s history of racially charged statements.
Protesters occupied both the confirmation chamber and Sessions’ Senate office Tuesday, Jan. 10 as the nominee answered questions from his colleagues.
Footage from the sit-in showed a young woman and other protesters occupying Sessions’ Senate office while media members and police barricaded the entrance. The young woman said Sessions is unfit to be the U.S. Attorney General and demanded that he relinquish the nomination.
“We see that he is not fit for that position,” she says. “He is the antithesis of what it means for a democracy, what it means to vote freely and what it means to vote without voter suppression and intimidation. He has shown in his track record that he does not care. And we will not allow this to continue.”
Many on the left have criticized Sessions for his prior racial transgressions, including an instance where he called the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference “Un-American” and “Communist inspired.” In 1986, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected him as President Ronald Reagan’s pick for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama because four former colleagues testified that he made incendiary racial remarks.
New Jersey’s Sen. Cory Booker has stated that he will break with the tradition of not speaking out against a fellow senator and testify against Sessions.
“We’ve seen Jeff Sessions — that’s Sen. Jeff Sessions — consistently voting against or speaking out against key ideals of the Voting Rights Act,” Booker told MSNBC‘s Chris Hayes. “[Sessions has also] taken measures to try to block criminal justice reform.”
Protester calls Jeff Sessions a pig during confirmation hearing. @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/mwz5viSlNa
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 10, 2017
One of the many protesters removed from the chamber after several outbursts called Sessions and Trump’s other Cabinet members “m-therf–king pigs” as police aggressively escorted her out.
“We refuse to accept a fascist America,” she says as officers approach her. “We have to be in the streets starting Jan. 14 to say ‘No’ to this fascist regime. We have to stop these m–therf–king pigs … You’re a pig. Stop these pigs from getting into power.”
Another batch of protesters was just pulled out of the @SenatorSessions Conf Hearing, this time during @tedcruz's Qs: pic.twitter.com/5SXh6jXJsw
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 10, 2017
Another protester was escorted out by three police officers during Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s questioning. The young man yelled “Black Lives Matter!” as officers forced him to vacate the premises.
