Thread

I got arrested for sitting on the floor in a Senate office (not in the Capitol, but in the office buildings that surround it) and talking, loudly, about how my sister had (she has since died) Down's Syndrome and we really couldn't afford to lose her Medicaid. But cool.

I saw a woman dragged out of her wheelchair after she waited for 6 hours to enter a hearing room where they were discussing taking away her healthcare. She was the first in line and they told her there was no room and then arrested her.

Hundreds of women were arrested for stepping onto the STEPS of the Supreme Court when the building was empty on a weekend.

I saw a man with cancer (and now ALS) ripped from his seat by the Capitol police in the Senate Gallery on the eve of the vote to take away healthcare to millions after he yelled two words. He was arrested and now has it on his record.

I watched as a young woman was arrested after she sat down in a street near the Capitol that was closed for chanting. She spent 38 hours in jail risking COVID.

I saw 8 women from Nebraska stand in a circle in an empty hallway in front of their Senator’s office, crying, praying and singing after each one told their story of sexual assault. And you guessed it, that’s when they got arrested.

I remember when 2 women got arrested for hanging a specially designed lightweight banner from the balcony in one of the Senate Office Buildings to show their message that rapists shouldn't be on the SCOTUS.

Thinking back, I recall 5 people with t-shirts that read "I am HIV+" sit down in the hall in front of a Congressmember's office after he proposed dramatic, across the board cuts to funding for lifesaving HIV programs. They were quickly arrested.

I saw police refuse to let Ady Barkan finish his speech on the floor of the Russell Senate Office Building and drag him from his wheelchair and arrest him despite them knowing that he had ALS.

I saw clergy, wearing their robes and collars, holding hands and quietly praying in one of the House Office Buildings right before they got arrested protesting kids being taken away from their parents at the border. Today, I saw a dude w/ a Confederate flag walking in the Capitol

Of all of the protests that I've seen, I've never seen a protestor threaten a police officer, or an elected or harm one of their fellow protestors. I'm talking thousands of people, hundreds of protests.

Tonight, I saw police taking selfies with the terrorists attacking their colleagues and breaking through their barricades. Even when the police would quietly tell us that they too couldn't afford their healthcare, or had someone in their family with a disability, no selfies.

As @traceyecorder points out, we see from tonight that the police do, in fact, know how to use restraint. It's not about training. I can also tell you that they know how to be prepared for protests. They can easily amass an officer for every protestor and lock down the building