SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Rakhee Devasthali, of Carrboro has her handcuffs removed by State Capitol Police Officer R. McCoy, left, as she is cited for trespassing and released on her own recognizance after partaking in a sit-in at the Capitol Building rotunda. Capitol Police moved everyone out of the building at closing time and 11 protesters remained inside with the doors locked.
'Moral Monday' demonstrators took their fight back to the state capitol building again this week and eleven people were detained and cited for refusing to leave as they attempted to lobby Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to help end the legislature's frontal assault on the health of the state's people and its environment.
The demonstrators gathered in the building in hopes to deliver letters to McCrory, but because the usual legislative session was not held, police closed the building early and demanded that the crowd disperse. The focus of the protest was the governor's continued refusal to expand the state Medicaid program as well as recent environmental policies, including a vote to open the state to fracking while ignoring the growing problem of coal ash dumping.
As these protesters exhibit:
\u201cDon't frack with Raging Grannies, #ncga! Don't frack NC's clean water! #MoralMonday\u201d— NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn (@NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn) 1401746629
"We recognize that reversing these actions will not solve every problem that our state faces," one of the NAACP letters for McCrory stated. "We ask that you reverse course because your actions have made challenging situations even more painful for so many. We call on you today to reverse course by repenting, repealing and restoring our state to higher ground by eliminating the laws and policies pushed by this N.C. Legislature, led by Speaker Tillis and Senate Leader Berger and signed by you."
Watch as officials try to clear the capitol rotunda:
RAW VIDEO: "Moral Monday" demonstrators stage sit-in at state capitolEleven demonstrators stage a sit-in Monday inside the North Carolina capitol. A group of people concerned about the ...
"Our General Assembly continues to pass bad policy after bad policy without regard to the people whose health they are damaging," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and spokesperson for the Forward Together Moral Movement. "This week, Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Gov. Pat McCrory and their extremist colleagues put corporate interests ahead of real people when they rammed through an end to the moratorium on fracking in our state. They put corporate interests ahead of real people when they proposed a budget that takes vital Medicaid support from the elderly and the disabled. We are going back today and we will be back every Monday of this short session until this General Assembly listens to the People's call to repent, repeal and restore confidence in our government."
After police cleared most of the building, eleven demonstrators refused to leave. After several hours, though not arrested, they were cited with 2nd degree trespassing, a misdemeanor, and escorted from the building in handcuffs before being released outside.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
'Moral Monday' demonstrators took their fight back to the state capitol building again this week and eleven people were detained and cited for refusing to leave as they attempted to lobby Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to help end the legislature's frontal assault on the health of the state's people and its environment.
The demonstrators gathered in the building in hopes to deliver letters to McCrory, but because the usual legislative session was not held, police closed the building early and demanded that the crowd disperse. The focus of the protest was the governor's continued refusal to expand the state Medicaid program as well as recent environmental policies, including a vote to open the state to fracking while ignoring the growing problem of coal ash dumping.
As these protesters exhibit:
\u201cDon't frack with Raging Grannies, #ncga! Don't frack NC's clean water! #MoralMonday\u201d— NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn (@NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn) 1401746629
"We recognize that reversing these actions will not solve every problem that our state faces," one of the NAACP letters for McCrory stated. "We ask that you reverse course because your actions have made challenging situations even more painful for so many. We call on you today to reverse course by repenting, repealing and restoring our state to higher ground by eliminating the laws and policies pushed by this N.C. Legislature, led by Speaker Tillis and Senate Leader Berger and signed by you."
Watch as officials try to clear the capitol rotunda:
RAW VIDEO: "Moral Monday" demonstrators stage sit-in at state capitolEleven demonstrators stage a sit-in Monday inside the North Carolina capitol. A group of people concerned about the ...
"Our General Assembly continues to pass bad policy after bad policy without regard to the people whose health they are damaging," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and spokesperson for the Forward Together Moral Movement. "This week, Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Gov. Pat McCrory and their extremist colleagues put corporate interests ahead of real people when they rammed through an end to the moratorium on fracking in our state. They put corporate interests ahead of real people when they proposed a budget that takes vital Medicaid support from the elderly and the disabled. We are going back today and we will be back every Monday of this short session until this General Assembly listens to the People's call to repent, repeal and restore confidence in our government."
After police cleared most of the building, eleven demonstrators refused to leave. After several hours, though not arrested, they were cited with 2nd degree trespassing, a misdemeanor, and escorted from the building in handcuffs before being released outside.
'Moral Monday' demonstrators took their fight back to the state capitol building again this week and eleven people were detained and cited for refusing to leave as they attempted to lobby Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to help end the legislature's frontal assault on the health of the state's people and its environment.
The demonstrators gathered in the building in hopes to deliver letters to McCrory, but because the usual legislative session was not held, police closed the building early and demanded that the crowd disperse. The focus of the protest was the governor's continued refusal to expand the state Medicaid program as well as recent environmental policies, including a vote to open the state to fracking while ignoring the growing problem of coal ash dumping.
As these protesters exhibit:
\u201cDon't frack with Raging Grannies, #ncga! Don't frack NC's clean water! #MoralMonday\u201d— NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn (@NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn) 1401746629
"We recognize that reversing these actions will not solve every problem that our state faces," one of the NAACP letters for McCrory stated. "We ask that you reverse course because your actions have made challenging situations even more painful for so many. We call on you today to reverse course by repenting, repealing and restoring our state to higher ground by eliminating the laws and policies pushed by this N.C. Legislature, led by Speaker Tillis and Senate Leader Berger and signed by you."
Watch as officials try to clear the capitol rotunda:
RAW VIDEO: "Moral Monday" demonstrators stage sit-in at state capitolEleven demonstrators stage a sit-in Monday inside the North Carolina capitol. A group of people concerned about the ...
"Our General Assembly continues to pass bad policy after bad policy without regard to the people whose health they are damaging," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and spokesperson for the Forward Together Moral Movement. "This week, Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Gov. Pat McCrory and their extremist colleagues put corporate interests ahead of real people when they rammed through an end to the moratorium on fracking in our state. They put corporate interests ahead of real people when they proposed a budget that takes vital Medicaid support from the elderly and the disabled. We are going back today and we will be back every Monday of this short session until this General Assembly listens to the People's call to repent, repeal and restore confidence in our government."
After police cleared most of the building, eleven demonstrators refused to leave. After several hours, though not arrested, they were cited with 2nd degree trespassing, a misdemeanor, and escorted from the building in handcuffs before being released outside.