HOUSTON — Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police Thursday.
She says her arrest today in D.C. was not a publicity stunt, as she fights alongside Texas Democrats to pass federal voting rights protections.
This is the third arrest of a lawmaker in recent weeks while participating in pro-voting rights demonstrations in D.C.; something Republicans call theatrics.
Facebook live video shows the moment the Houston Congresswoman was arrested by Capitol Police in Washington, getting into what she calls “good trouble” in the name of late colleague John Lewis.
Jackson Lee, who shared the arrest on social media, was participating in a pro-voting rights demonstration outside a Senate office building.
“I felt the minimal I could do is have my liberty denied for a period of time and I was willing to get arrested,” she said.
It came on the same day as Texas Democrats who left the state in order to stall a Republican voting security bill got a Congressional hearing, which included remote testimony from Harris County voters.
“I voted at midnight, at a 24-hours polling location, which is a service this bill seeks to restrict and I cannot understand why,” said one voter.
Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky said the Lone Star Showdown should be handled in the Lone Star state.
“Once again, Democrats are engaging in spectacle over substance while conducting no real oversight,” he said.
“I did not do this frivolously or precipitously in terms of making a commitment to spend time in jail,” she said.
The Congresswoman tells me she was arrested once before outside the Sudanese embassy protesting.
We reached out to the Capitol Police for comment regarding her arrest but haven’t heard back.