The Rev. William Barber II Arrested The Same Day He's Awarded MacArthur Genius Grant

[Tanuki]

13. Thank you! You are correct, and I hadn't heard about it.

More on today's arrest:
https://religionnews.com/2025/04/28/william-barber-arrested-in-capitol-rotunda-after-prayer-challenging-republican-budget/

"While arrests of protesters at the Capitol is not unusual, the response to Barber’s prayer was unusually dramatic: After issuing verbal warnings, dozens of officers expelled everyone in the Rotunda — including credentialed press.

Prominent pastor and anti-poverty activist the Rev. William Barber and two others were arrested while praying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday (April 28), an action he said would be part of a recurring series of demonstrations aimed at challenging the Republican-led budget bill.

The arrests occurred roughly 15 minutes after Barber, the Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Steve Swayne, director of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, started praying in the Rotunda as dozens of police stood nearby, some prepared with plastic handcuffs. The three took turns praying, lamenting potential budget cuts to social safety-net programs such as Medicaid, often chanting together: “Against the conspiracy of cruelty, we plead the power of your mercy.

“When we cannot depend on the courts and the legislative power of human beings, we can still depend on … the power of your love and your mercy and your truth,” Barber said in the Rotunda as police began to surround him."...(more at link)