RantCrush Top 5: January 4, 2017

Almost two dozen civil rights activists gathered in Senator Jeff Sessions’ office in Mobile, Alabama around 11 a.m. yesterday. During a sit-in that lasted all day, they said they wanted to denounce Sessions’ stance on civil rights and demand that he withdraw his name from Attorney General consideration. At 6:30 p.m., police showed up and arrested at least six people, among them was national president of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. “We are doing this as an act of civil disobedience standing in the tradition of Rosa Parks and members of the N.A.A.C.P. community,” he said.

The @NAACP & @AlabamaNAACP are occupying the Mobile office of @jeffsessions–untill he withdraws as a AG nominee or we’re arrested.@tvonetv pic.twitter.com/7uceDDpz1Y

— Cornell Wm. Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) January 3, 2017

A Facebook livestream by a local journalist showed Brooks shaking hands with several police officers before being arrested and taken away. He said that the protesters were all well aware of the laws, but were “engaging in a voluntary act of civil disobedience.”

Sessions has been a senator for two decades and has consistently been accused of racism. He takes a hardline stance on immigration, has joked about the KKK, used the n-word, and is a climate change skeptic, among many other controversies.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.