Nine Activists Arrested During Poor People’s Campaign ‘Die-In’ at Ohio Statehouse

Yesterday, nine Ohioans were arrested for their part in the peaceful protests at the Ohio Statehouse. The activist group Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival was continuing its 40-day campaign of nonviolent action advocating for legislation that better assists people in poverty, when the arrests occurred.

While some protesters at the Ohio Statehouse rallied, picketed and drummed, some advocates laid down on the pavement in front of the building and even blocked entrances to demonstrate against environmental, health and tax policies they say are killing poor people.

At this time, police have not commented on why the arrests took place, but Poor People’s Campaign have reported thousands arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience since the beginning of their #40DaysofAction.

One of the major issues the group says it’s fighting in Ohio is Kasich’s proposed Medicaid policy, which they believe will do severe damage to communities consisting mainly of people of color by exempting predominately white communities.

The efforts are in honor of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as King was organizing a massive Poor People’s campaign for economic justice before he was murdered in Memphis in 1968.

Campaign chair Dr. William J. Barber II told MLK 50 Memphis that, 50 years after King’s assassination, systemic poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation, the war economy, and Christian nationalism still persist and that the campaign intends to bring these “moral failures” back to the center of public discourse.

The Poor People’s Campaign consists of activists from multi-ethnic backgrounds, races, religions, sexual orientations and socio-economic statuses, and are targeting legislative changes including an end to gerrymandering and so-called right-to-work laws, full funding for federal anti-poverty programs, changes in immigration laws, and bans on assault weapons and fracking.

This year’s national campaign culminates in a March on Washington scheduled for June 23.

This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2018.