Protests were reported to have broken out in Alabama’s State House as lawmakers were discussing several bills during a special session regarding redrawing the state’s congressional maps in Republicans’ favor.
As lawmakers were discussing Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) and House Bill 1 (HB 1), protesters “chanting in the gallery during the session” led to lawmakers having to “call for a recess,” according to WVTM13 News.
One Alabama Democrat, state Rep. Barbara Drummond, expressed criticism as “security guards attempted to quiet the crowd and forcibly removed” Dee Reed, who serves as the Alabama State Organizing Manager for Black Voters Matter:
Busloads of protesters gathered at the Statehouse throughout the week, chanting in the gallery during the session. Their chants prompted lawmakers on the floor to call for a recess, saying they could not hear over the noise. Security guards attempted to quiet the crowd and forcibly removed activist Dee Reed from the gallery.
State Rep. Barbara Drummond, a Democrat representing District 103, expressed her dismay at the scene.
“That shouldn’t be Alabama. Those are individuals who were standing for democracy. This is their house and that is what we see. That’s what this vote is all about,” Drummond said.
While Reed was “walked out of the gallery by several state troopers” and other security officials, “she was not arrested,” Al.com reported. Several Democrat state representatives expressed that Reed “had the right to protest,” and that they had “asked” security officials to let them “handle it.”
“She had the right to protest, she has the right to use her voice,” Alabama state Rep. Ontario Tillman (D) said.
Per the outlet, the bills, which were passed after the protests, “set up a process for special elections in certain districts later in 2026, but are contingent on the Supreme Court”:
Alabama lawmakers passed bills that could create special elections and send more Republicans to Congress after protesting broke out in the gallery and outside the state house.
The bills set up a process for special elections in certain districts later in 2026, but are contingent on the Supreme Court and other courts allowing Alabama to make changes.
In a post on Instagram, Black Voters Matter shared a video of Reed “being removed from the Alabama State House,” and claimed Alabama lawmakers were “moving to redraw maps designed to erase Black representation.”
“Things are escalating,” the post said. “Our Alabama State Organizing Manager, Dee Reed, is being removed from the Alabama State House for standing up against attacks on Black political power. Alabama lawmakers are already moving to redraw maps designed to erase Black representation and dilute our voices. We will not stand by while our communities are silenced, ignored, and gerrymandered out of power.”
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