William Barber arrested in Capitol Rotunda after praying against Republican-led budget
Capitol police officers gather around Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, center left, and William Barber, center right, as they pray in the Capitol Rotunda, April 28. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
Prominent pastor and anti-poverty activist William Barber and two others were arrested while praying in the US Capitol Rotunda on Monday, 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, 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.
