WASHINGTON (AP) – Rep. John Lewis, who shed blood in Selma for civil rights, sat shoulder to shoulder with fellow Democrats on the House floor as the leader of an extraordinary protest demanding votes on gun control.
Instead of grainy black-and-white photos, color selfies with colleagues went out on social media and Periscope transmitted live video images around the world. Instead of Alabama State Troopers, the Democratic minority spoke out. And after more than 25½ hour of speeches, shouts and disruptions by dozens of Democrats, the sit-in ended Thursday with words from Lewis, his colleagues packed closed around him.
Speaking in alternately hushed and booming tones, Lewis told them that the fight over gun control is not over despite the Democrats’ failure to even get a vote from the Republican-led House.
“It is a struggle, but we are going to win this struggle,” the Georgia congressman said forcefully, vowing to return to the fight next month when Congress returns.
It was a long way from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.