MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on the NAACP demonstration to protest nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general (all times local):
6:50 p.m.
Video broadcast on an NAACP social media site shows police officers have handcuffed and led off several protesters after the group staged a sit-in at an Alabama office of Sen. Jeff Sessions, the nominee for U.S. attorney general.
Police were seen removing the demonstrators Tuesday evening from a sit-in at the nominee’s office in Montgomery.
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, who took part in the protest, said the group held the demonstration to oppose Sessions’ nomination as attorney general.
The civil rights organization broadcast the developments on its Facebook page.
The group said it was raising concerns about multiple aspects of Sessions’ record including his prosecution of African-American activists for alleged voting fraud when he was a U.S. attorney.
Brooks said earlier by phone that Sessions “can’t be trusted to be the chief law enforcement officer for voting rights.” The sit-in began shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. Those led away were seen being escorted into a police vehicle.
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11 a.m.
Several NAACP members, led by their national president, have staged a sit-in at the Alabama office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions to protest his nomination to be the nation’s next attorney general.
Nearly a dozen members of the civil rights organization sat in Sessions’ office Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama - the city the Republican senator calls home. NAACP President Cornell William Brooks said they intended to remain there until they were able to speak with Sessions - or were removed.
The group raised concerns about multiple aspects of Sessions’ record including his prosecution of African-American activists for alleged voting fraud when he was a U.S. attorney. Brooks said Sessions “can’t be trusted to be the chief law enforcement officer for voting rights.”
Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for Sessions, said in a statement that the nominee has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption.
The demonstration marked the latest criticism of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. Sessions’ confirmation hearings are expected to begin next week.
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