As people across the country keep filling the streets to protest George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police, members of Congress are weighing whether to get in on the action. For some, it’s personal.
Rep. André Carson was arrested outside a mosque at age 17. “I know what it’s like to be profiled, not only racially, but religiously,” says the Indiana Democrat. “I was being charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.”
The charges were later dropped, but Carson, the second Muslim to be elected to Congress, calls the incident a defining moment in his life. He would go on to serve as a police officer and work in counterintelligence. The arrest made him aware that “as a black male, I was essentially a target,” he says.
All of that was on his mind when he decided to attend a protest in downtown Indianapolis this week. He found it moving to be among “young Americans expressing dissent,” joining cries of “Black lives matter” and “Hands up, don’t shoot!”
Carson is part of a growing group of Democrats who are walking the talk, choosing the risk of turning up at protests that have at times been unpredictable over the appearance of doing nothing. Sen. Kamala Harris was among the first to share a video of herself chanting in front of the White House over the weekend, wearing a mask and a baseball cap pulled down over her eyes. “People are in pain. We must listen,” she tweeted.
"want" - Google News
June 04, 2020 at 04:35PM
https://ift.tt/3eISGUa
As protests continue, lawmakers don't want to be caught on the sidelines - Roll Call
"want" - Google News
https://ift.tt/31yeVa2
https://ift.tt/2YsHiXz
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "As protests continue, lawmakers don't want to be caught on the sidelines - Roll Call"
Post a Comment