Rebellious Democrats disrupt House, stage protest over guns

WASHINGTON – Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor Wednesday to demand votes on gun control bills, shouting down Speaker Paul Ryan when he attempted to restore order as their protest stretched into the night.

The stunning and unruly scene was broadcast live to the world from Democrats’ cellphones, feeds picked up by C-SPAN after Republicans shut down the network’s cameras.

The sit-in was well into its 10th hour, with Democrats camped out on the floor stopping legislative business in the House, when Ryan stepped to the lectern to gavel the House into session and hold votes on routine business. Angry Democrats chanted “No bill, no break!” and waved pieces of paper with the names of gun victims, continuing their protest in the well of the House, even as lawmakers voted on a previously scheduled and unrelated measure to overturn a veto by President Barack Obama.

Ryan attempted to ignore the outbursts, pounding down his gavel over shouting. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Democrats yelled, but Ryan left the lectern and the voting continued. Then Democrats began singing “We Shall Overcome,” still holding up the names of gun victims.

The scene presented a radical, almost shocking departure from the normal orderly conduct of the House. As the night stretched on, beyond the protest’s 14th hour, Republicans signaled plans to push through a bill to deal with the Zika outbreak and then adjourn until after July 4 to shut Democrats down, a plan Democrats denounced as “cowardly.”

Lawmakers brought pillows and blankets to the protest. Rep. Elizabeth Esty of Connecticut had a sleeping bag, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts brought Dunkin’ Donuts for her colleagues.

Republicans hoped to present themselves as soberly attending to business and Democrats as disruptive. Democrats said they would stay until Republicans held votes on bills to strengthen background checks and prevent people on the no-fly list from getting guns in the wake of last week’s massacre in Orlando, Florida.

“Are they more afraid than the children at Sandy Hook?” asked Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., referring to the 2012 shooting that killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut. “What is so scary about having a vote?”

Rep. John Lewis, a veteran civil rights leader, asked what Congress has done, then answered his own question: “Nothing. We have turned a deaf ear to the blood of innocents. We are blind to a crisis. Where is our courage?”

Ryan dismissed the protest as “nothing more than a publicity stunt,” and, in an interview with CNN, made clear there would be no vote.

“We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process,” he said.

The protest began around 11:30 a.m., interrupted briefly when Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, tried to start the House’s work at noon. The customary prayer and Pledge of Allegiance went ahead, but Poe was forced to recess the House when dozens of Democrats refused to leave the well.

By evening, 168 House Democrats – out of 188 – and 34 Senate Democrats joined the protest, the House minority leader’s office said.

Scattered around the House floor were signs reading “Disarm Hate.” Visitors watched from the galleries. A crowd of several hundred gun control advocates gathered outside the Capitol and cheered as Democrats addressed them.

At one point, Democrats and Republicans nearly came to blows on the House floor. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas approached the Democrats and yelled, “Radical Islam!” Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida started yelling back at him. The two came within inches of each other, both yelling. Lawmakers from both parties separated the two.

Congress remains gridlocked over gun control, a divide even more pronounced in a presidential election year. The sit-in had the feel of a 1960s-style protest, as some lawmakers sat on the floor.

Although the cameras were turned off Wednesday, lawmakers relied on social media to transmit video, using Facebook, Twitter and Periscope. C-SPAN broadcast live video streamed on Periscope and Facebook from lawmakers’ accounts. Democrats posted the Capitol’s main telephone number and urged constituents to call and request a vote.

Democratic senators joining the protest included Minority Leader Harry Reid, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who had waged a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week to force votes in the Senate on gun legislation. Those votes failed Monday.