Prominent activists Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. William Barber II have been arrested during a sit-in at Senator Kyrsten Sinema's office in Phoenix, according to fellow protesters.
Jackson and Barber took part in the protest on Monday with the full intent of being arrested, in order to draw attention to their demand to abolish the Senate filibuster, according to organizers.
Activist Erika Andiola, a former spokeswoman for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, said on Twitter that at least 30 people had been arrested in the sit-in, including Jackson and Barber.
A Phoenix Police Department spokesman was unable to immediately confirm the arrests when reached by DailyMail.com.
Rev. William Barber II posted a photo that appeared to show him wearing loosely fitting flex-cuffs as he sat in the front seat of a car during the protest in Phoenix
Jackson (left) and Barber (right) are seen above in file photos. Activists said they were among 30 arrested in a demonstration in Phoenix on Monday
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat, has been outspoken in her opposition to eliminating the filibuster (file photo)
Jackson is a longtime activist on the national stage, and Barber is a prominent advocate on racial injustice issues from North Carolina, where he gained fame for his 'Moral Mondays' demonstrations every week at the state capitol in Raleigh.
On Monday, Barber posted a photo that appeared to show him wearing loosely fitting flex-cuffs as he sat in the front seat of a car. 'We've got to get these shackles off of our democracy,' he wrote.
The demonstrators in Phoenix were seeking to put pressure on Sinema, a moderate Democrat, to support abolishing the filibuster, which she has resisted.
Democrats hope to pass a sweeping bill on election laws, and with the Senate split 50-50, many view eliminating the filibuster as the only viable path to achieving their goals.
Under the current rules, it often takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and eliminating the procedural rule would allow Democrats to pass their agenda unobstructed, assuming they voted as a bloc.
Monday's
