Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
On Monday (July 26), the House Ethics Committee announced it won’t be investigating the arrest of Rep. Joyce Beatty who was detained during a recent voting rights protest.
The Ohio Democrat was among several protesters arrested July 15 outside of a Senate office building where two key federal voting rights protections bills are currently stalled. The group also called for an end to the Senate filibuster during the demonstration.
“The legal proceedings related to her arrest are expected to be resolved with no further action,” a report made by the committee reads, per The Hill.
“The Committee has determined to take no further action in this matter, and upon publication of this Report, considers the matter closed,” the report added.
Before being released, Beatty, who serves at the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, paid a $50 fine. In a statement following her arrest, Beatty drew comparisons of her arrest compared to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, where rioters were allowed to leave the scene.
“Kind of ironic, isn’t it? That we were arrested quickly for violating the rule of it was illegal to protest as we were doing after being warned to stop. So, again, here we are with the disparities of treatment with less than 100 people and then thousands of thousands of people who were not peacefully protesting,” Beatty said.
Last week, Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia was among those arrested during a separate protest for voting rights. US Capitol Police said Johnson and other protesters were arrested for “unlawfully demonstrating outside of the Hart Senate Office Building.”
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