10 arrested amid protest outside Sinema’s office in Arizona

Ten protesters were arrested outside of Sen. Krysten Sinema’s (D) office on Tuesday while demonstrating against her support of the filibuster.

AZFamily.com reports that the demonstrators carried signs reading “End the filibuster,” “Protect Our Democracy” and “Shame! Shame!” outside of Sinema’s Phoenix office.

Police were called after the property manager of the business complex where the protest took place told authorities that the demonstration was interfering with business and that he had asked them to leave multiple times.

Though the organizer of the protest complied with detectives, azfamily.com reports that a small group stayed behind and continued to protest. Officers made announcements asking them to leave and approached the demonstrators individually, but 10 of them continued to ignore the officers’ requests, leading to the arrest.

The demonstration was organized by the The Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster which is composed of multiple social justice groups and labor organizations including Progress Arizona, the Arizona Working Families Party and the Arizona NAACP.

Crowd outside on the sidewalk. Phoenix PD has arrested the 10 protestors who refused to leave Sinema’s office until she puts an end to the Jim Crow filibuster, passes the #ForThePeopleAct & more. #EndTheFilibuster #Arizona pic.twitter.com/gs0rdLrpLm

— Progress Arizona (@Progress_AZ) June 22, 2021

“The status quo is simply untenable: we cannot allow the filibuster to continue blocking popular and much-needed bills that would protect our freedom to vote, raise the minimum wage, protect LGBTQ rights, and so much more,” Progress Arizona Executive Director Emily Kirkland said in a statement. “We’re calling on Senator Sinema to end the filibuster and begin doing the job she was elected to do: getting things done for her constituents,” said Emily Kirkland, one of the activists arrested at Tuesday’s action.”

Sinema’s office did not respond to questions about the protests when reached for comment by The Hill.

Sinema reiterated her full support of the filibuster in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Monday, writing that the filibuster had served Democrats when they were in the minority just last year.

“Those filibusters were mounted not as attempts to block progress, but to force continued negotiations toward better solutions,” Sinema wrote. “And, sometimes, the filibuster, as it’s been used in previous Congresses, is needed to protect against attacks on women’s health, clean air and water, or aid to children and families in need.

“My support for retaining the 60-vote threshold is not based on the importance of any particular policy. It is based on what is best for our democracy. The filibuster compels moderation and helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policy poles.”

On Tuesday, the “For the People Act,” on which Sinema is a co-sponsor, was blocked from advancing, with Senate votes falling along 50-50 party lines and Democrats failing to shore up the needed 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster.