Alyssa Milano was one of the more than 20 protesters arrested outside the White House on Tuesday afternoon as they demanded the federal government protect voting rights.
Photos from the protest, organized by the progressive group People for the American Way show the 48-year-old actress leading a march to the White House before being arrested by U.S. Park Police for refusing to clear the area.
She held up her arm in protest as she was led away, and shared regular Twitter updates on being taken in to custody. It is unclear if Milano herself was posting these updates, or someone else sharing social media posts on her behalf.
The activist actress later confirmed her arrest on Twitter, writing: 'I was just arrested for demanding the Biden Administration and the Senate use their mandate to protect voting rights.
'Stand with me and @PeopleFor and tell the Senate and White House that voting rights shouldn't depend on where you live #DontMuteOurVote.'
She was one of more than 20 activists arrested at the protest, after a US Park Police officer warned them that they risked arrest under a Washington D.C. misdemeanor law that prohibits crowding or obstructing streets or sidewalks, according to Deadline.
Woke actress Alyssa Milano announced on Tuesday that she had been arrested after she took part in a protest to demand the federal government safeguard voting rights
She was seen in photos being processed for arrest after refusing to clear the area
Milano held up her fist with other protesters as she was led away to be processed for arrest
She wrote that she was 'arrested for demanding the Biden Administration and the Senate to use their mandate to protect voting rights'
The protest came one day before the Senate is set to decide whether to move forward with the Freedom to Vote Act, which would make it easier to register to vote, establishing a 15-day minimum early voting window and make Election Day a federal holiday.
It would also require that states provide same-day voter registration at all polling places by 2024, and make a variety of cards and documents valid for in-person voting identification.
The push for the legislation comes after Senate Democrats blocked the For the People Act in June, and are once again threatening to filibuster this bill.
'We came back to the White House to deliver a clear message to President Biden: We need actions that match the urgency of his words on voting rights - and time is running out,' Ben Jealous, the current president of the progressive group said in a message on Twitter before he, too, was arrested.
'The Freedom to Vote Act has to pass now if we are going to protect voting rights in the next election for all of us: for black voters and brown voters, for women, for younger voters, voters with disabilities and working people of all backgrounds.'
He added that Biden 'needs to step up, or voting rights will die on his watch.'
Milano, who serves as a board member for People for the American Way, also said that federal laws are need to protect the right to vote, invoking the words of the late Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia.
'John Lewis told us: "The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it, because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it,'" she said in a statement to The Hill.
'States across the country are trying to take it away from so many people in a cynical power grab. We can't let them.
'We need federal law right now to protect voting rights for all Americans, no matter which state they happen to live in.
'It's a cause that's worth getting arrested [for].'
Milano, who also serves as a board member for People for the American Way, was seen at
