Two arrested after NAACP sit-in at Goodlatte's Roanoke office

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Two men were arrested after an all-day NAACP sit-in protest at Congressman Bob Goodlatte's Roanoke office on Monday.

Roanoke police arrested National NAACP President Cornell Brooks, 55, and the organization's National Director of the Youth and College Division Steven Green, 24. Both are charged with criminal trespassing and refusing to sign a summons. Both have since released.

Roanoke police say the group was polite and cordial at all times with both law enforcement and Goodlatte's staff.

Police personnel attempted to resolve this incident without charges being placed against anyone; however, when the office closed at 5 p.m., everyone left departed the office and building when asked by the staff at the time of the office closing with the exception of Brooks and Green.

The NAACP held a nonviolent sit-in at Goodlatte's office for a hearing on the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

Brooks, an attorney and minister who has served as president of the NAACP since 2014, refusing to leave Goodlatte's office for refusing to hold hearings on the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for three years. He told police that he will not leave unless arrested or he receives a response from the congressman.

The sit-in began at 11 a.m. and follows a morning of protest by the local chapter of the NAACP, where a group of youth and adult activists called for congressional action to restore federal protection against state laws barring ballot access in states with the worst histories of voter suppression and discrimination. Goodlatte chairs the House Judiciary Committee, which has refused to hold hearings on legislation to combat egregious voter discrimination in recent years.

"In these past three years, we've seen a Machiavellian frenzy of voter suppression from one end of this country to the other, where states have worked systemically to make it harder for young people, college students, minorities to vote for the candidate and party of their choice on Nov. 8," Brooks said. "With the fate of our national moral character at stake, we must hold our elected leaders responsible to act to uphold the constitutional rights guaranteed for all citizens to vote and participate in this Democracy."

A spokeswoman for Goodlatte  released this statement regarding what happened at his office:

Congressman Goodlatte strongly respects the right of Americans to express their opinions. The NAACP group remained in the office until the end of the business day, and law enforcement was never contacted by Congressman Goodlatte or his staff to remove the group. At 5PM, the end of normal business hours of the private office building which houses the Roanoke office, the landlord made the decision to ask the remaining individuals to leave on their own volition or be escorted from the building by local law enforcement.

Earlier Monday afternoon, Goodlatte released this statement regarding the Voting Rights Act:

The Voting Rights Act is alive and well and protecting the freedom to vote. The right to vote is a hallmark of democracy and we must ensure all Americans' constitutional right to vote is not infringed. While the Supreme Court struck down the old coverage formula that required certain states to preclear their voting rule changes with the federal government, the Court left in place other important tools in the Voting Rights Act, including the section that allows federal judges to place jurisdictions under a preclearance regime if those jurisdictions act in an unconstitutional and discriminatory manner.  So, strong remedies against unconstitutional voting discrimination remain in place today. Federal courts have been actively using the VRA, upholding and striking down various state laws. The House Judiciary Committee, which I chair, has held a hearing on the Supreme Court's ruling, and my staff and I have met with the NAACP and associated groups regarding this topic on a number of occasions. We will continue to monitor this very important issue to ensure that the voting rights of all Americans are protected."

The protest and rally are held to honor the 51st anniversary since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965, effectively banning state laws that denied the vote to black and minority voters for decades in Virginia and other southern states. Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of the law that prohibited states from changing local election laws without federal review in the case of Shelby v. Holder.

According to the NAACP, Within days of the 2013 ruling, several states enacted exclusive voting laws designed to prevent young, old and minority residents from voting by requiring hard-to-obtain ID cards to register and cast a ballot on election days, as well as cutting back on successful registration programs and early voting hours that drove minority turnout to record-setting levels in 2008 and 2012.

Federal courts last month struck down voting laws in Kansas, Georgia, North Carolina, North Dakota, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin as attempts to deliberately prevent entire populations from having easy access to the ballot.

"Congressman Goodlatte said he would act if there was evidence of voter suppression. The Court of Appeals has ruled that there is widespread evidence of exactly that," Brooks told police. "It's past time for Congressman Goodlatte to protect the same law he voted to re-authorize just 10 years ago."