SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Desiree Ali-Fairooz, center, protests Jeff Sessions' nomination for attorney general. (Photo: Reuters)
'Affront to Justice': Protester Faces Year in Jail for Laughing During Sessions Hearing
Verdict described as 'an affront to justice and contrary to the kind of peaceful tolerant world we all deserve to live in'
May 04, 2017
Sixty-one-year-old Desiree Ali-Fairooz, an activist with the anti-war group CodePink, faces up to one year in jail for laughing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions' January confirmation hearing.
Fairooz was convicted Wednesday of disorderly or disruptive conduct and demonstrating on U.S. Capitol grounds. Fellow activists Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, also of CodePink, were also convicted on "parading or demonstrating" and unlawful display charges. For these criminal misdemeanors, they each face jail time, fines, or both, depending on the outcome of a June 21 sentencing hearing, according to the New York Times.
The office of the United States attorney for the District of Columbia argued in an April filing that all three protesters sought to "impede and disrupt" the hearing. Barry and Bianchi dressed as Ku Klux Klan members with white hoods and robes, and stood before the hearing started to greet the senator in what CodePink described as "a parody designed to highlight Sessions' racist history."
Fairooz, the office said, "created a scene" when she "scoffed" at Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) assertion that Sessions' record of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented." She held up a sign that read, "Support Civil Rights; Stop Sessions" as she was removed from the room by Capitol Police.
In a statement Wednesday, Fairooz said the noise she made was "spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance."
Listen for it here:
Shortly after Fairooz laughed, officers approached to take her out of the room. "Why am I being taken out of here?" Fairooz asked as she was being led away. "I was going to be quiet, and now you're going to have me arrested? For what?"
Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly caught the moment on video:
\u201cAnother protester escorted out of Sessions hearing. Her original offense appeared to be simply laughing.\u201d— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1484061165
"Since CodePink formed at the start of the Iraq war, we have continuously been in the halls of Congress and in the streets standing up against war, militarism, and hatred," spokeswoman Ariel Gold said Wednesday. "That Tighe, Lenny, and Desiree were convicted for peacefully protesting the hatred and racism of Jeff Sessions is an affront to justice and contrary to the kind of peaceful tolerant world we all deserve to live in."
Fairooz told the Times after the verdict that she plans to continue protesting the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Barry said that Sessions' record since being confirmed provides justification for his and Bianchi's protest. "As an American who loves the constitution and the rule of law, I felt compelled to be present with my protest of the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions who was being considered as the number one law enforcement officer in the country," Barry said.
"His nomination and confirmation as attorney general make a mockery of our judicial system and our constitution in general," he continued. "Time has shown that our concerns were valid. Sessions is a terrible attorney general and is already setting back progress this country has made in the area of civil rights and race relations."
Under the banner Truth Is Not a Crime, CodePink is urging people to sign a petition addressed to U.S. attorneys general that reads: "The Department of Justice should not eject people from public hearings in congress and then criminally prosecute them for up to a year in prison for appropriate reactions to absurd and false statements." Sign here.
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Sixty-one-year-old Desiree Ali-Fairooz, an activist with the anti-war group CodePink, faces up to one year in jail for laughing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions' January confirmation hearing.
Fairooz was convicted Wednesday of disorderly or disruptive conduct and demonstrating on U.S. Capitol grounds. Fellow activists Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, also of CodePink, were also convicted on "parading or demonstrating" and unlawful display charges. For these criminal misdemeanors, they each face jail time, fines, or both, depending on the outcome of a June 21 sentencing hearing, according to the New York Times.
The office of the United States attorney for the District of Columbia argued in an April filing that all three protesters sought to "impede and disrupt" the hearing. Barry and Bianchi dressed as Ku Klux Klan members with white hoods and robes, and stood before the hearing started to greet the senator in what CodePink described as "a parody designed to highlight Sessions' racist history."
Fairooz, the office said, "created a scene" when she "scoffed" at Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) assertion that Sessions' record of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented." She held up a sign that read, "Support Civil Rights; Stop Sessions" as she was removed from the room by Capitol Police.
In a statement Wednesday, Fairooz said the noise she made was "spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance."
Listen for it here:
Shortly after Fairooz laughed, officers approached to take her out of the room. "Why am I being taken out of here?" Fairooz asked as she was being led away. "I was going to be quiet, and now you're going to have me arrested? For what?"
Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly caught the moment on video:
\u201cAnother protester escorted out of Sessions hearing. Her original offense appeared to be simply laughing.\u201d— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1484061165
"Since CodePink formed at the start of the Iraq war, we have continuously been in the halls of Congress and in the streets standing up against war, militarism, and hatred," spokeswoman Ariel Gold said Wednesday. "That Tighe, Lenny, and Desiree were convicted for peacefully protesting the hatred and racism of Jeff Sessions is an affront to justice and contrary to the kind of peaceful tolerant world we all deserve to live in."
Fairooz told the Times after the verdict that she plans to continue protesting the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Barry said that Sessions' record since being confirmed provides justification for his and Bianchi's protest. "As an American who loves the constitution and the rule of law, I felt compelled to be present with my protest of the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions who was being considered as the number one law enforcement officer in the country," Barry said.
"His nomination and confirmation as attorney general make a mockery of our judicial system and our constitution in general," he continued. "Time has shown that our concerns were valid. Sessions is a terrible attorney general and is already setting back progress this country has made in the area of civil rights and race relations."
Under the banner Truth Is Not a Crime, CodePink is urging people to sign a petition addressed to U.S. attorneys general that reads: "The Department of Justice should not eject people from public hearings in congress and then criminally prosecute them for up to a year in prison for appropriate reactions to absurd and false statements." Sign here.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Sixty-one-year-old Desiree Ali-Fairooz, an activist with the anti-war group CodePink, faces up to one year in jail for laughing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions' January confirmation hearing.
Fairooz was convicted Wednesday of disorderly or disruptive conduct and demonstrating on U.S. Capitol grounds. Fellow activists Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, also of CodePink, were also convicted on "parading or demonstrating" and unlawful display charges. For these criminal misdemeanors, they each face jail time, fines, or both, depending on the outcome of a June 21 sentencing hearing, according to the New York Times.
The office of the United States attorney for the District of Columbia argued in an April filing that all three protesters sought to "impede and disrupt" the hearing. Barry and Bianchi dressed as Ku Klux Klan members with white hoods and robes, and stood before the hearing started to greet the senator in what CodePink described as "a parody designed to highlight Sessions' racist history."
Fairooz, the office said, "created a scene" when she "scoffed" at Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) assertion that Sessions' record of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented." She held up a sign that read, "Support Civil Rights; Stop Sessions" as she was removed from the room by Capitol Police.
In a statement Wednesday, Fairooz said the noise she made was "spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance."
Listen for it here:
Shortly after Fairooz laughed, officers approached to take her out of the room. "Why am I being taken out of here?" Fairooz asked as she was being led away. "I was going to be quiet, and now you're going to have me arrested? For what?"
Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly caught the moment on video:
\u201cAnother protester escorted out of Sessions hearing. Her original offense appeared to be simply laughing.\u201d— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1484061165
"Since CodePink formed at the start of the Iraq war, we have continuously been in the halls of Congress and in the streets standing up against war, militarism, and hatred," spokeswoman Ariel Gold said Wednesday. "That Tighe, Lenny, and Desiree were convicted for peacefully protesting the hatred and racism of Jeff Sessions is an affront to justice and contrary to the kind of peaceful tolerant world we all deserve to live in."
Fairooz told the Times after the verdict that she plans to continue protesting the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Barry said that Sessions' record since being confirmed provides justification for his and Bianchi's protest. "As an American who loves the constitution and the rule of law, I felt compelled to be present with my protest of the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions who was being considered as the number one law enforcement officer in the country," Barry said.
"His nomination and confirmation as attorney general make a mockery of our judicial system and our constitution in general," he continued. "Time has shown that our concerns were valid. Sessions is a terrible attorney general and is already setting back progress this country has made in the area of civil rights and race relations."
Under the banner Truth Is Not a Crime, CodePink is urging people to sign a petition addressed to U.S. attorneys general that reads: "The Department of Justice should not eject people from public hearings in congress and then criminally prosecute them for up to a year in prison for appropriate reactions to absurd and false statements." Sign here.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
'Reverse Robin Hood of the Highest Order': GOP Advances Massive Tax Cuts for the Rich
"The unavoidable truth is that Republicans' core priority with this legislation was to benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, and that is exactly what their bill does," said Democratic Rep. Don Beyer.
May 14, 2025
House Republicans on Wednesday advanced legislation that would deliver a slew of tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, giveaways that the party aims to fund with unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance.
Throughout the marathon markup hearing that began Tuesday afternoon and ended with Wednesday morning's party-line vote, Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee offered amendments aimed at closing the carried-interest loophole, preventing a major tax break for rich heirs, blocking any handouts to centimillionaires, and reverting the top marginal tax rate to its pre-2017 level of 39.6%.
Republicans—many of whom stand to reap significant personal benefits from another round of tax cuts—rejected the Democratic amendments.
"At every turn, Republicans voted down amendments designed to prevent the majority of benefits of their tax bill from flowing to rich people," Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), a member of the committee, said following Wednesday's vote. "The unavoidable truth is that Republicans' core priority with this legislation was to benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, and that is exactly what their bill does."
Shortly after the hearing kicked off on Tuesday, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation released a distributional analysis showing that the Republican tax bill—part of the GOP's sprawling reconciliation package—would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans while doing little for low- to middle-income families.
Beyer noted on social media that "a dirty little secret" of the Republican tax legislation is that it would actually raise taxes on the bottom 20% of Americans in 2029—the year President Donald Trump leaves office.
The bill is even more regressive when you look at 2029 when tax cuts for families expire & tax increases resulting from cuts to ACA premium tax credits grow larger. pic.twitter.com/3BDz1bFina
— Brendan Duke (@Brendan_Duke) May 14, 2025
The House Ways and Means Committee vote came as Republicans on the Energy and Commerce and Agriculture Committees simultaneously worked to advance their respective sections of the GOP reconciliation package, the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda.
The bills before the latter two committees would enact combined cuts of around a trillion dollars to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the next decade, stripping critical benefits from millions of people across the country.
Kobie Christian, a spokesperson for the Unrig Our Economy coalition, said Wednesday that the GOP reconciliation package is "a reverse Robin Hood of the highest order."
"From cutting healthcare to ripping away food assistance to rubberstamping cost-raising tariffs, Republicans in Washington are making life more expensive for working- and middle-class Americans by handing over their tax dollars to the super-rich," said Christian. "Families need lower costs, not cuts to healthcare and billionaire tax breaks. Congress should be fighting to help working families, not the ultra-wealthy."
Ocasio-Cortez Rips GOP for Rushing Ahead With Medicaid Cuts 'When Everyone Is Asleep'
"We've asked for the opportunity to do this in the light of day so that people can call their representatives' offices in order to stop this disaster," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
May 14, 2025
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez castigated House Republicans for pursuing massive cuts to Medicaid "in the dead of night" as a committee markup hearing on the GOP's legislation dragged on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said it is shameful that Republicans are rushing ahead with their proposal "at 2:38 in the morning, when everyone is asleep, when we've asked for the opportunity to do this in the light of day so that people can call their representatives' offices in order to stop this disaster."
As the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing kicked off Tuesday afternoon, demonstrators gathered in the Rayburn House Office Building and more than two dozen people were arrested for protesting the GOP's Medicaid proposal, which would cut the program by around $800 billion over the next decade and leave around 8 million more people uninsured.
But attention on the hearing naturally dwindled as it continued into the night and early Wednesday morning. As of this writing, the critical markup session is still ongoing.
During her remarks at the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez said Republicans have looked to the state of Georgia as a model for their Medicaid proposals—particularly their push for work requirements that advocates say would endanger coverage for millions of people who are eligible for benefits.
Ocasio-Cortez noted that Georgia is among the states with the highest uninsured rates in the nation.
"The Republican majority has looked at the state with the third-highest number of uninsured Americans and said, 'That's what we want to model our Medicaid system after—this catastrophic failure,'" said the New York Democrat.
Republicans are saying that these cuts will be reinvested into Medicaid for people who "deserve" it.
If that were true, the budget would stay the same. But that's not what's happening. Why?
Because down the hall, they are trying to finance tax breaks for billionaires. pic.twitter.com/98jORYSrTP
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) May 14, 2025
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) noted Tuesday that beginning in 2029, the GOP bill would "require states to deny coverage to people applying for Medicaid if they are not already working (or participating in another qualifying activity) at least 80 hours per month, as well as terminate Medicaid for people already enrolled if they cannot document that they are meeting work requirements."
"Evidence shows that much of the coverage loss due to work requirements would occur among people who work or should qualify for an exemption but nevertheless would lose coverage due to red tape (states should be able to exempt most people with children automatically, but many others who should be exempt, such as people with disabilities, would not be automatically exempted)," the group observed.
CBPP estimated that the Republican plan would put between 9.7 million and 14.4 million people at risk of losing Medicaid coverage by 2034.
"Let me be clear—this is not a moderate bill, and it is not focused on cutting 'waste, fraud, and abuse,'" said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Instead, Republicans are intentionally taking healthcare away from millions of Americans so they can give giant tax breaks to the ultra-rich who don’t need them."
Politico reported early Wednesday that "after hours of debate, Republicans in unison voted down a Democratic amendment that would have required the Health and Human Services Secretary to certify that the GOP bill would not reduce any Medicaid benefits offered by states, pointing to President Donald Trump's repeated pledges to protect the program."
Republicans started several markup sessions for key pieces of their reconciliation package at around the same time on Tuesday, reportedly a deliberate effort to disperse and weaken the opposition.
"Down the hallway, they are trying to finance tax cuts for people who are inheriting $22 million houses," Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday, referring to the House Ways and Means Committee's marathon hearing on the tax section of the reconciliation bill.
Republicans also held a hearing Tuesday for their proposal to slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by hundreds of billions of dollars. The markup session lasted more than three hours and is expected to resume Wednesday morning.
"Tonight, you're taking food away from single moms with 7-year-olds at home—as if being a single parent raising a young child wasn't hard enough already. And farmers, too, will suffer from your direct attacks on SNAP," Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said at the hearing. "Benefits will get cut—and for what? To fund tax breaks for everyone but the middle class."
'You Will Kill Me': Dozens Arrested Protesting GOP Medicaid Cuts at US Capitol
"The only humane thing to do is to kill the bill before it kills all of us," said the co-leader of Popular Democracy in Action.
May 13, 2025
Over two dozen people were arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for protesting Republicans' plans to cut Medicaid as part of a sweeping reconciliation package that would gut programs for the working class to provide tax giveaways to the wealthy.
"Around 2:00 pm, 25 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating in the Rayburn House Office Building," a Capitol Police spokesperson told Axios.
"It is against the law to protest inside the congressional buildings," the spokesperson said. "More arrests are currently being made."
While the effort to pass the package spans several panels, these protesters were targeting a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. As Politico reported:
Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) repeatedly pounded his gavel and said that "disruption of congressional business is a violation of law and is a criminal offense."
"People feel very strongly because they know they're losing their healthcare," said Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), asking police not to arrest protesters if possible. "Many of them are disabled and I don't want to see them further hurt with their disability in the process of being arrested."
Protesters also lined the halls outside the hearing, many of them in wheelchairs, chanting as police threatened to take more people into custody. Julie Farrar—an activist with ADAPT, a disability rights organization—said there were about 90 people with her group, many of whom are on Medicaid and some who are direct care workers.
Popular Democracy in Action shared video footage of the protesters' chants against Medicaid cuts and comments from one wheelchair user who shouted at lawmakers while being wheeled out by a police officer: "You will kill me! I'm HIV positive. For 20 years, I have survived on my meds that are $10,000 a month... You look at me—I'm from Youngstown, Ohio."
An analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday estimated that under the committee's proposal, by 2034, Medicaid enrollment would drop by 10.3 million people and the number of uninsured individuals would rise by 7.6 million.
President Donald Trump and his Republican Party "are attempting to get away with the daylight robbery of working Americans with this budget," Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of Popular Democracy in Action, said in a Tuesday statement. "Their message is abundantly clear: They do not care about the health and well-being of working people. They only care about filling their pocketbooks, even if it kills the people that depend on these services."
"The only humane thing to do is to kill the bill before it kills all of us," Mejia declared. "Working people across the country need to call their congressional representatives to let them know what a disgrace this is, and urge them to oppose the Republican budget proposal."
As Common Dreams reported earlier Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is mobilizing organizers in swing districts he has recently visited on his Fighting Oligarchy Tour to urge constituents to pressure their representatives to oppose the emerging GOP package.
Additionally, Indivisible is using its Neighbor2Neighbor tool to connect opponents of the GOP's proposed cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), "and other vital programs to pay for tax breaks for billionaires."
Most Popular
We cover the issues the corporate media never will.
Please support our journalism.