Alabama House of Representatives Briefly Halts Primary Debate Amid Protests

By Ralph Chapoco | Alabama Reflector

The Alabama House of Representatives Friday abruptly recessed during a debate over a primary bill after protests erupted in the House gallery.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, was about to take the podium to begin speaking on SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, when people began yelling in opposition to the bill in the galleries, which are sealed off by glass.

Several members of the House Democratic Caucus then went up to the gallery just as building security and state troopers were attempting to remove Dee Reed of Black Voters Matters from gallery amid the protest.

“They had her on the ground, with white state troopers and others, pinning her to the ground,” said Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, who attempted to intervene.“Too many emotions. This is taking me back, and to see a Black woman being pinned down in Alabama, in the statehouse, by state troopers, it is unacceptable.”

Several security personnel, along with law enforcement, grabbed Reed on the edge of the gallery and dragged her from her seat to the exit door. Along the way, the woman went to the floor and personnel surrounded while on the ground to try and subdue her. Once they gained control, they began to escort her to the exit and eventually head out of the building.

People in the gallery could be heard yelling, “Let her go, let her go” as troopers were attempting to escort her.

Givan, along with Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, tried to diffuse the situation by telling people in the gallery to calm down and to let the proceedings continue.

Rep. Kelvin Datcher, D-Birmingham, told people in the gallery that they “needed their help” to quiet down.

“We need to get Rep. England on the record,” he said to the crowd.

“I am not going to stand for it, for somebody to have their freakin knees on top of somebody, pinned to the floor,” Givan said. “A Black girl, a young, intelligent, brilliant Black mind here in the state of Alabama, and this is what we have resulted to, only because she was exercising her right to free speech, it is unacceptable.”

Givan said that security had Reed on the ground, her face on the ground with hands behind her back.

“However she was treated, it was wrong, unacceptable,” said Rep. Ontario Tillman, D-Bessemer. “She had every right to be here in the people’s house. That is the whole point of this. She has a right to protest. She has the right to use her voice, and that is what she was doing.”

The House went into recess as security tried to gain control of the situation at the call of the chair.

A second protest erupted after security closed off part of the gallery to spectators, though they were soon admitted. The House resumed debate at 11 a.m.

“This is the people’s house and we are discussing issues that are serious,” Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said on the floor. “People will get emotional when we are talking about representation and engaging in fights we thought we already dealt with.”

SB 1 and its companion bill, HB 1, would allow new primaries to be held in the state if federal courts allow the state to revert to congressional and legislative maps previously ruled racially discriminatory against Black Alabamians.