The @NAACP & @AlabamaNAACP are occupying the Mobile office of @jeffsessions–untill he withdraws as a AG nominee or we're arrested.@tvonetv pic.twitter.com/7uceDDpz1Y
— Rev. & Prof. Cornell William Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) January 3, 2017
On Tuesday, members of the NAACP launched a sit-in protest in the Mobile, Alabama office of Senator Jeff Sessions, who was recently appointed as the Trump administration’s attorney general. NAACP President Cornell William Brooks tweeted that they will continue their protest until Sessions is removed as a nominee, or they are arrested.
Sessions nomination was seen as controversial, as he hasn’t hidden his resentment for the NAACP, calling the group “un-American” for “[forcing] civil rights down the throats of people.” The Alabama Senator has also been a staunch opponent of several civil rights causes, and he even lost a federal judge appointment in 1986 after cracking a joke about the KKK (although he has vehemently denied this claim). And he has stood by Trump during his most difficult campaign moments, which may be a reason for his nomination.
Brooks told the New York Daily News that he and several NAACP members entered the office around 11:30 a.m eastern and won’t leave until Trump replaces Sessions as nominee (or they’re hauled away in cuffs). He went on to express hope that the act of civil disobedience will send a larger message:
“We are asking the senator to withdraw his name for consideration as attorney general or for the president-elect, Donald Trump, to withdraw the nomination. In the midst of rampant voter suppression, this nominee has failed to acknowledge the reality of voter suppression while pretending to believe in the myth of voter fraud.”
Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton, who is also participating in the sit-in, echoed Brooks statements, saying they won’t leave until Sessions is removed as the nominee. It appears they are receiving some support from the outside, if the below photo is any indication.
On behalf of my hungry colleagues who are sitting in, I want to thank a @NAACP friend in Boston for sending pizza to Mobile. @DemAwakening pic.twitter.com/ZoJiSjVysp
— Rev. & Prof. Cornell William Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) January 3, 2017
(Via New York Daily News & CNN)