(Photo: A protest in Washington, D.C. for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. | The Workers Circle)
by Rachel Cohen
This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.
Five NYU students and two professors were arrested for civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3. They refused to move from a sidewalk near the White House in an effort to call on President Joe Biden to eliminate the Senate filibuster and enact federal voting rights legislation.
The group from NYU — students Noa Baron, Josh Horowitz, Jasmin Prophete, Merly Lopez and Autumn Muñoz and professors Sally Guttmacher and Noelle Damico — attended as members of The Workers Circle, a Jewish nonprofit advocating for social and economic justice. They joined seven other activist organizations in demonstrating for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Around 250 demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Square, located across the street from the White House. Approximately 60 of them — including the NYU group — stepped onto the adjacent Pennsylvania Avenue as part of a planned action. One of the 60 demonstrators was Yolanda Renee King, the 13-year-old granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr.
Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.