A Caribbean American legislator was arrested for protesting United States President Donald J. Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court.
New York State Lieutenant Governor candidate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, who represents the 45th Council District in Brooklyn, was arrested Monday night outside Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan as he protested the President’s nomination of District of Columbia’s Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the highest court in America.
Charged and released
Williams was charged with disorderly conduct and released from New York Police Department (NYPD) custody shortly after midnight.
Before being arrested with a group of protesters, Williams called on Democrats to find the moral conviction to stand up to Trump and what Williams characterized as Trump’s “extremely conservative Supreme Court nominee.”
“My message is to the Democrats who think resistance is just a hashtag,” he said to protestors outside of Trump’s skyscraper on Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street. “We have fought for protections for so many, fought hard for black, brown, LGBT, for women.
Democrats refusing to stand up
“All of that is now at risk, not because of bigoted Republicans, but because of Democrats who refused to step up because they were afraid,” he added. “I am begging all Democrats – all those who claim leadership – to take a risk, show courage. If you are in your comfort zone, you are not doing enough.”
During the rally, Williams emphasized his concern that the right-leaning Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion a constitutional right.
He also criticized New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for “failing to advance legislation that would protect women’s rights on the state level by empowering the right-leaning Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).”
