Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee arrested at voter rights protest

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is arrested on Thursday at a voter rights protest.

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 30 July 2021

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) was arrested Thursday afternoon at a voting rights demonstration held outside of the Hart Senate Office Building.

In a video she posted on Twitter, Jackson Lee said she believes "when you are getting into good trouble, when you realize that the 15th Amendment has guaranteed the fundamental right to vote, any action that is a peaceful action of civil disobedience is worthy and more to push all of us to do better and to do more." "Good trouble" was a reference to the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights leader and advocate for voting rights who believed in making change through good, or necessary, trouble.

Over the last three weeks, three Black House Democrats have been arrested for protesting against strict voting restrictions being put into place in GOP-led states: Jackson Lee, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.). Odus Evbagharu, chair of Texas' Harris County Democratic Party, said in a statement that it is most often Black women "at the forefront of defending our civil rights and leading the fight to save our fragile democracy," and Jackson Lee "understands we are at a pivotal moment in the history of our nation, where our sacred right to vote is under grave threat. She recognizes that we all must take action to protect this right."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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