The non-partisan demonstration began with a rainy rally at the Liberty Bell, and is set to arrive in the nation’s capitol on April 11, where they will stage a peaceful sit-in until the 18th, or until everyone has been arrested.
By Monday afternoon, the march had already made it through Wilmington, Delaware.
— Jeanne Spellman (@jspellman) April 4, 2016
"Some of us will have never marched for anything," a statement from the organizers read. "Others will have had our first taste of activism decades ago. Some of us will be taking time away from work to march. Others will be retired or unemployed. Some of us will have been moved by the invitation of a friend. Others will have read a compelling call to action. But we’ll find each other at the Liberty Bell."
Those who have pledged to attend and risk arrest at the capitol include Mark Ruffalo, Larry Lessig, and Zephyr Teachout, as well as dozens of other civil society leaders, according to the organizers.
Following the mass sit-in, the organizers say that thousands more are expected to pour into the nation’s capital for three additional days of direct action, public education, and mass mobilization.
“With hundreds of patriotic Americans being sent to jail, day after day for at least a week — simply for sitting in to save our democracy — the drama in Washington will rock the business-as-usual cycle of this election and catapult this critical issue onto center stage,” the website states.
The event has been endorsed by over 100 organizations such as MoveOn.org, the Institute for Policy Studies, Demos, and the nation’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO.
"Because over the last five years, nearly half of the country has passed new state laws that disenfranchise everyday voters. As access to the ballot has become more difficult, people of color, the elderly, and the working poor have been most affected. Meanwhile, billionaires and big money interests have marshalled vast wealth to dominate elections, corrupting budgets and laws to serve the interests of a few at the expense of the rest of us."
