Not in living memory have there been scenes in the US House of Representatives like those late on Wednesday and early Thursday when a Democratic revolt made the lower chamber of Congress look more like a student protest on campus.
Chaos reigned as Democrats, angry over congressional inaction in response to the June 12th Orlando nightclub massacre and other mass shootings, staged a sit-in and triggered a late-night showdown with Republicans in an attempt to force a vote on gun control.
The mother of a victim of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut sent pizzas from aptly-named We, The Pizza, on Capitol Hill, to sustain the legislator-protesters.
Democratic congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota had a meeting interrupted with a note from a staffer: "Your mom called wants you on the floor."
The protest, started by Representatives Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and John Lewis of Georgia, a veteran of sit-ins during the 1960s civil rights movement, began on Wednesday morning with scores of Democrats.
The frustration of Democratic legislators, long stymied in their efforts to pass gun controls in the wake of mass shooting after mass shooting over the past five years, boiled over with the Florida massacre and the failure of four restrictions on firearms purchases to reach even the 60-vote threshold for the amendments to be voted on by the chamber.
“Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We have been too quiet for too long,” said Lewis in a speech beginning the protest aimed at forcing the Republican-led House to take a vote to prevent terror suspects from buying guns and expand background checks.
Emotional speeches
Democratic members of the House filled the chamber, making emotional speeches while holding up photographs and names of the shooting victims.
Republican Speaker Paul Ryan stirred tensions when he told CNN on Wednesday that he would not erode a person's constitutionally guaranteed right to own guns without due process. He described the protest as "a publicity stunt".
“This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem. This is trying to get attention,” said the highest elected congressional Republican.
After Ryan called the House into recess, automatically shutting down the chamber's cameras, parliamentary TV station C-Span started broadcasting Periscope and Facebook live feeds from Democrats videoing the protest on mobile phones.
After 10pm on Wednesday Ryan tried to take back control of the House with a vote on an unrelated matter leading to disorderly scenes. Ryan was shouted down by Democrats chanting "Shame" and "No Bill, no break" – a call that became a viral hashtag of support. Protesters sang 1960s civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome.
Tensions flare
Tensions flared when Representative
Louie Gohmert
, a
Texas
Republican, interrupted
Brad Sherman
, a Democrat from
California
, shouting that “radical Islam” had caused the deaths of the Orlando victims, whose photographs appeared on a board next to him.
The House finally adjourned at 3.19am on Thursday – a day earlier than scheduled – for the Independence Day break that lasts until July 5th without Republicans conceding any votes on gun control.
The protest continued until lunch on Thursday and Democrats claimed victory at end of the sit-in that lasted more than 24 hours. "It's a new dawn of a new day in our fight to disarm hate," the Democratic leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, told supporters outside the Capitol.
“Don’t give up, don’t give in,” Lewis shouted, standing next to Pelosi, promising further moves to push gun laws.
