WASHINGTON (RNS) — Five faith leaders were arrested while praying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday (May 5), the second time in as many weeks clergy and others have been handcuffed as they speak out against the Republican-led budget bill.
Among those arrested was Shane Claiborne, a longtime activist and co-director of Red Letter Christians, a Christian social justice group. Claiborne, who is based in Philadelphia and known for his longstanding opposition to the death penalty and gun violence, prayed side by side with others for several minutes in the Rotunda before eventually being arrested by Capitol police.
“Reorder our moral compass,” Claiborne said, standing near a statue commemorating famous suffragettes and abolitionists. “Stir the conscience of our nation. Let justice rise up on these very steps, let truth trouble the chambers of the Capitol. Let there be no peace where there is no justice. Let there be no comfort for those who legislate cruelty.”
Claiborne added: “Let those of us gathered here rise not with fear but with fire, because as long as the details are still being worked out in committee …” as the group, which included Christian and Jewish activists, responded in unison: “You can work a miracle.”
Shortly after an officer gave multiple verbal warnings, roughly two-dozen officers surrounded the group and began arresting them one by one. Members of the group prayed and som …