Politics

DC Pot Activist Taking House Staffer To Court Over Removal From Hearing

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Adam Eidinger, a political activist in Washington, D.C., was physically removed from a congressional hearing in April and now he is taking a GOP staffer to court over the matter.

Sean McLaughlin, a staff director in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will testify in D.C. Superior Court in November about why he had Eidinger forcefully removed from the hearing room, Roll Call reports.

Eidinger was in attendance at the hearing to protest a resolution that would overturn a D.C. “non-discrimination” law. He’s been an ardent supporter of the D.C. law, which was intended to stop businesses from firing women for how they choose to use reproductive healthcare options.

A group of other protesters affiliated with CODE PINK, a human rights organization, stood up behind Eidinger and began shouting “D.C votes no!” to protest the lack of input the city’s residents have in congressional votes on D.C. laws.

Any time the district passes a law Congress has 30 days to review the law and can effectively block the law from being enacted with a joint resolution. The resolution in this case passed through the House but eventually died when the Senate didn’t vote on it in the allotted time period.

Police officers asked the protesters to leave, and they did so peacefully. When the police asked Eidinger to leave, he refused, arguing that he was sitting quietly and not involved with the ruckus.

Eidinger was then picked up and carried out of the room by police officers. He was later arrested and spent the night in jail.

Photos of the event clearly show that Eidinger was not involved with the protesters disrupting the hearing.

Since then, he has been fighting unlawful entry charges in court. A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2015, according to court documents.

Originally, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chair of the oversight committee and Rep. Elijah Cummings, the committee’s ranking member, were subpoenaed to appear in the court case, but both lawmakers challenged the subpoenas and will not have to testify, according to Roll Call.

A spokeswoman for the committee did not immediately return request for comment for this story.

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