On Monday afternoon, Rev. Dr. William Barber and two others were arrested inside the U.S. Capitol for praying on behalf of the tens of millions of Americans set to lose their healthcare if Congress passes the pending GOP budget which cuts $800 billion from Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest households and corporations. They were held for three hours.
"This is the inaugural launch of Moral Monday. When Congress can come in each day and pray over its work while the majority seeks to pass a budget to prey on women, children, the disabled and the vulnerable—that's not faith—that's hypocrisy, Rev. Barber texted to WBAI/Work-Bites after his release. "Seeking to pass a bill that will cut 36 million people from Medicaid is a direct frontal attack on the sick and disabled in this nation. It requires a deep moral pushback."
Poverty is already the fourth leading cause of death in the United States — ahead of homicide.
On Sunday, Rev. Barber and a broad coalition of clergy from multiple denominations came to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol in their religious regalia reflecting their diverse faith traditions to protest an "immoral proposed budget that would slash essential aid for the most vulnerable to give tax breaks to billionaires."
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Back in 2013, Rev. Barber, who hails from North Carolina, and a grassroots coalition of progressives organized what came to be known as Moral Mondays that started in Raleigh, the state capital, to advance voting rights as well as to press for a living wage in the anti-union “right to work” state.
Over time, the weekly protests grew exponentially, drawing thousands from around the state and beyond. Hundreds of protestors submitted to arrest.
Rev. Barber's arrest on Monday was on the 99th day of President Trump's second term and follows growing mass protests that saw millions turn out in scores of actions that were sparked in all fifty states.
"This is not politics as usual. This is a moral and spiritual crisis," according to the press release announcing the the inaugural kick-off of Moral Monday in Washington D.C. "Workers, children, and the poor are suffering at the hands of extremists in Congress and the Trump Administration, and religious leaders are declaring that they will not stand down in the face of this national emergency. The historic coalition of leaders this weekend will raise moral dissent at the proposed federal budget, which is a direct attack on the most vulnerable Americans."
Jack Jenkins of the Religious News Service first reported the arrests of Rev. Barber and his colleagues.
"After issuing verbal warnings, dozens of officers expelled everyone from the Rotunda—including credentialed press," Jenkins reported. The arrests occurred roughly 15 minutes after Barber, the Rev. Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove and Steven Swayne, director of St. Francis Springs Center, started praying in the Rotunda as dozens of police stood nearby, some prepared with plastic handcuffs."
In the first few months of the Trump regime, the administration has terminated over 250,000 federal civil servants and tossed out long-standing collective bargaining agreements. Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have gutted federal agencies created by Congress, like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
On the immigration front, the regime has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which permits the president to detain and deport people from an enemy nation without judicial review.
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