Protesters Arrested After They Stormed Kevin McCarthy’s Office

(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Multiple people were arrested after storming House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office on Capitol Hill on Monday, September 11. The reason for storming McCarthy’s office centered around President Biden’s AIDs relief plan, known as PEPFAR.

The protestors were captured on video, which was posted on Twitter, demanding that McCarthy tell the Republican House majority to re-authorize the president’s AIDs relief plan, shouting, “Pass PEPFAR now McCarthy!” The video captures the protestors sitting down in the speaker’s office, refusing to leave.

When the U.S. Capitol Police got involved, seven protesters — four males and three females — were arrested for unlawful entry. The disruption was organized by two activist groups, Health GAP and Housing Works. After the protesters were arrested, it was revealed that Housing Works CEO Charles King was among the males arrested.

Housing Works had posted on Twitter bragging about unlawfully occupying McCarthy’s office, saying that they were “proud” of what they had done in an effort to pressure the speaker to push the renewal of PEPFAR through Congress.

In a statement, King said that the reauthorization of PEPFAR is essentially for the U.S. to honor its commitment to fighting AIDs and the transmission of HIV. King further said that PEPFAR has been pivotal in helping poorer countries with limited resources to flatten the curve of HIV transmission.

Congress only has until September 30 to add more funds to the program to ensure that it is reauthorized. The program has been credited with saving 25 million lives. According to a report by the Washington Post, experts are warning that, should the program not be renewed, there could be dire consequences for those in need of the resources necessary to fight AIDs.

Additionally, some Republicans are beginning to become skeptical of the program’s renewal amid accusations that some of PEPFAR’s funding is being used to fund abortions. Such a charge was first levied by a report from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.