WASHINGTON (RNS) — A group of clergy, faith-based protesters and disability advocates were once again arrested in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday (June 2) while praying against the Republican-led federal budget bill, including a wheelchair user who said potential cuts to health care programs would imperil her future.
Suvya Carroll, a disability rights advocate who was born with cerebral palsy, was among those who prayed in the Rotunda, asking that God would “not let this happen,” referring to the bill. She spoke clutching a Bible as fellow demonstrators laid hands on her shoulders, calling on the Almighty to allow her and others “to be free to live, be healthy, well and safe.”
Carroll was arrested by Capitol police a few minutes later, along with eight other demonstrators, according to police. Faith leaders arrested with her included activist the Rev. William Barber II, president of Repairers of the Breach; the Rev. Della Owens, pastor of Saint James Christian Church in Wilson, North Carolina and Barber’s wife; and the Rev. Franklin Golden of Durham Presbyterian Church in North Carolina.
Most of them, including Carroll, were placed in handcuffs as they were led away by police.
In an email, a Capitol police spokesperson said the nine people arrested were charged with “crowding, obstructing and incommoding.”
It was the third time since April 28 that faith-led “Moral Monday” protesters were arrested while …