Why Alyssa Milano Was Arrested Outside The White House
On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, Senate democrats will fight to advance the Freedom to Vote Act, which will impede new voting restrictions enacted by Republican states across the country (via NPR). These laws make voting more difficult, especially for people of color. Unfortunately, Republican senators are expected to attempt a filibuster to prevent the bill from being considered. In order to encourage these senators to fight for Americans' voting rights, many voting rights activists took to the streets to advocate for change.
Many protestors gathered outside the White House and directly pleaded for President Joe Biden to fight harder for this important cause. One of the largest organizations protesting was People For the American Way (via People). Alyssa Milano, who serves as a board member of the organization, attended the protest and helped garner support for the cause on Twitter. She even got arrested for demonstrating outside of the White House.
Alyssa Milano fights for voters' rights
In an attempt to protect voter rights, actress Alyssa Milano demonstrated outside of the president's home with the organization People For the American Way (via People). In a clip posted by the organization on Twitter, Milano said, "I'm going to risk arrest today because in the last year, there have been 425 bills that have been introduced to restrict voting rights. So, I'm going to demand that our president do everything in his power to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and the DC Statehood Act."
Almost immediately after sharing this video, Milano revealed she was arrested. She captioned an Instagram post, "I was just arrested for demanding the Biden Administration and the Senate to use their mandate to protect voting rights. Stand with me and @peoplefor and tell the Senate and White House that voting rights shouldn't depend on where you live. #DontMuteOurVote." The "Charmed" star was arrested along with 23 other individuals (via Deadline). Protesters were reportedly warned by a U.S. Park Police officer that they could be arrested under a misdemeanor law prohibiting crowding or obstructing streets or sidewalks. These 24 individuals were issued citations and later released.