Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) staged a sit-in at the Alabama office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions on Tuesday to protest his nomination as the nation’s next Attorney-General, criticising his record on voting rights and race relations.
NAACP activists vowed to occupy Sessions’ Mobile, Alabama office until the conservative Republican lawmaker either withdrew as a candidate or they were arrested.
Sessions, 70, has a history of controversial positions on race, immigration and criminal justice reform and the NAACP also held demonstrations at his other offices in Alabama.
“Senator Sessions has callously ignored the reality of voter suppression but zealously prosecuted innocent civil rights leaders on trumped-up charges of voter fraud.
“As an opponent of the vote, he can’t be trusted to be the chief law enforcement officer for voting rights,” NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks said in a press release according to Reuters.
Brooks posted a photo on Twitter of protesters in suits occupying the senator’s Mobile office.
A spokeswoman for Sessions called the NAACP’s criticisms “false portrayals that have been thoroughly rebuked and discredited.
“Jeff Sessions has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption,” spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement.
“Many African-American leaders who’ve known him for decades attest to this and have welcomed his nomination to be the next Attorney General.”
President-elect Donald Trump in November named Sessions to lead the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and his history could see scrutiny during a confirmation process before his fellow senators.
Sessions was a Federal Prosecutor in 1986 when he became only the second nominee in 50 years to be denied confirmation as a Gederal Judge.
This came after allegations that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he had called an African-American prosecutor “boy,” an allegation Sessions denied.
Sessions denied he was a racist and said at his hearing that groups such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union could be considered “un-American”.
He also acknowledged that he had called the Voting Rights Act of 1965 a “piece of intrusive legislation”.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")