County Commissioner Sawyer arrested during rally
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer was one of 25 people arrested Tuesday outside the White House in Washington, D.C. as she participated in the No More Excuses Rally, calling for an end to the filibuster and for President Joe Biden to compel Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.
The rally was hosted by the League of Women Voters of the U.S., Declaration for American Democracy and People For the American Way.
Others arrested included actress Alyssa Milano, Rabbi David Saperstein and Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen.
A vote on the Freedom to Vote Act is likely to take place Wednesday. The bill would establish national rules for running elections and includes provisions that would limit, but not prohibit, state voter ID requirements.
Support from Republicans in the Senate is needed to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill past opposition.
Sawyer was charged with incommoding. In D.C. code, it is “unlawful for a person, alone or in concert with others to crowd, obstruct, or incommode the use of any street, avenue, alley, road, highway, or sidewalk.”
The group was on the sidewalk in front of the White House gate, according to photos posted online.
“Across the South, we are in a new iteration of the reconstruction, we are seeing a backlash to movements for equality and I don't believe President Biden can both sides or bipartisan his way through this,” Sawyer said over the phone from D.C. “He has to stand his ground through this filibuster and stand up for disenfranchised people and that's Black men, Black women. We're the ones who put President Biden in office.”
The groups have seen that these peaceful protests are working, Sawyer said.
“Sometimes you need friendly pressure and the president and Jen Psaki have both mentioned and are aware of what's happening outside the White House,” she said. “What we're hoping is that he'll realize people are ready for him to act.”
Sawyer caught her flight to D.C. after voting in Shelby County Commission on the county's American Rescue Plan budget Monday night. She chairs the county commission's Black Caucus.
Before being elected to the commission in August 2018, she was an activist known for her role as leader of #Takeemdown901.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.