(DCWatchdog.com) – A group of far-left activists stormed Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office at the US Capitol. They were subsequently arrested and forcibly removed by Capitol Police.
Further down this post, you can watch a video of what happened.
On Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the leftist demonstrators breached the personal office of McCarthy (R-CA) and staged a sit-in to demand the extension of US funding for HIV and AIDS, The Hill reports.
The demonstration, led by two groups called Housing Works and Health GAP, specifically demanded that Congress reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
PEPFAR is a global US-funded program for fighting HIV and AIDS first passed in 2003, whose authorization is set to expire on September 30, 2023.
House Republicans have opposed extending PEPFAR, with some arguing that the money from the program has been used to support abortions, according to a Washington Post report.
“PEPFAR has saved millions of lives. It is criminal for some members of Congress to treat it as a political football,” Charles King, CEO of Housing Works, argued in a statement.
“The United States has committed to the international goal of ending AIDS by 2030, and we cannot do that if PEPFAR is threatened,” he said.
The two groups that staged the storming of Speaker McCarthy’s office demand a “clean” five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR and accuse House Republicans of proposing $767 million less for domestic HIV programs.
“Extremists in the House have sunk to a new low. Never in the twenty-year history of PEPFAR have lawmakers pulled such outrageous stunts,” stated Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell.
The two groups later confirmed to The Daily Beast that both King and Russell were among those arrested for invading the House Speaker’s personal office.
A total of seven activists were arrested for “unlawful entry,” according to the Capitol Police.
They spent about 10-15 minutes inside Kevin McCarthy’s office, chanting “pass PEPFAR now.”
A social media video of the breach caught the demonstrators’ chants, showing some sitting on the floor inside the Speaker’s office and locking their arms.
Some were photographed later as they were handcuffed and escorted by police officers out of the US Capitol.
Here is the video:
#BREAKING: Protesters breach the office of House @SpeakerMcCarthy on #CapitolHill, demanding a five year reauthorization of the PEPFAR program. The group has been arrested.
pic.twitter.com/wkDJP0dR3Z— Breaking Alerter (@BreakingAlerter) September 11, 2023
