Shocking moment Catholic priests and nuns are led away by police in zip-tie handcuffs after being arrested during a peaceful protest against Trump's immigration policies on Capitol Hill
- Catholic activists staged a demonstration at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday
- The group were protesting the Trump administration's policy of detaining migrant children at the Southern Border
- Priests and nuns were among 70 people arrested for 'crowding, obstructing, incommoding', and several were filmed being led away in handcuffs
- It's the second religious demonstration against Trump's immigration policies this week, with 10 Jewish activists arrested outside ICE headquarters on Wednesday
- Officials are struggling to cope with overcrowding of detention facilities on the Southern Border with more than 500,000 people apprehended trying to illegally enter the U.S. since January
Shocking video has captured the moment priests and nuns were put into zip-tie handcuffs after being arrested for protesting the Trump administration's detention of migrant children on the U.S. southern border.
The clergy members were among 70 Catholic activists who descended upon the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday for the protests.
Activists from more than a dozen Catholic organizations chanted the names of children who have died in detention facilities during Trump's term in office as they railed against 'the immoral and inhumane practice of detaining immigrant children.'
Several of the protesters lay on the floor of the building's rotunda in order to make a human cross before it was dismantled by officers.
70 of the assembled were subsequently arrested for 'unlawfully demonstrating in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building', Roll Call reports. A 90-year-old nun was among those arrested.
Video posted to Twitter by one eyewitness shows officers escorting priests and nuns from the premises.
Several recited the Lord's Prayer as they were led away.
'All were charged with D.C. Code 22-1307, Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding,' a police officer told Roll Call in an emailed statement.
Priests and nuns are among the 70 Catholic activists during a demonstration against President Trump's immigration policies on Thursday
Several of the protesters lay on the floor of the building's rotunda in order to make a human cross before it was dismantled by officers
Members of more than a dozen Catholic organizations descended upon the Russell Senate Office Building
Catholic groups involved in the demonstrations included Faith in Action and Sisters of Mercy, the Washington Post reports.
Several sisters and brothers addressed the assembled crowds before the arrests began.
'We are here today because of our faith. The gospel compels us to act,' Sister Ann Scholz of Washington D.C. stated.
'We are outraged at the horrific treatment of families and especially children. The inhumane treatment of children being done in our name must stop.'
Meanwhile, Walter Liss, a Franciscan brother from New York, told Roll Call: 'I just think that we can do better as a nation.
'I just don’t like what I’ve seen on TV the way that people are being treated and or scapegoated, you know, how people especially people of color from other countries are being blamed for all sorts of problems in society.'
Those arrested were placed in zip-tie handcuffs and escorted from the premises
Several recited the Lord's Prayer as they were led away by police, according to an eyewitness at the scene
All of those arrested were 'charged with D.C. Code 22-1307, Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding,' according to an officer
A Catholic priest is seen clutching his cane as he was placed in handcuffs and led out of the building
Another Catholic activist appeared anguished as she was arrested by two officers
Meanwhile, Washington Post reporter Marissa J. Lang tweeted an image of 90-year-old Chicago nun, Sister Pat Murphy, who was arrested during the sit-in.
'Sister Pat works with migrants and refugees in Chicago, and has been holding a weekly vigil outside ICE there for 13 years. She says the treatment of migrants should outrage all people of faiths,' she tweeted.
Thursday's Catholic demonstration was the second consecutive day that religious groups had protested against the Trump administrations immigration policies.
On Wednesday, 10 Jewish activists were arrested after staging a sit-in at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C.
President Trump has come under intense scrutiny for his response to the 'crisis on the southern border'.
Detention facilities in the region are overcrowded and have been criticized for their 'inhumane' standards.
This year alone more than 530,000 people - including upwards of 40,000 unaccompanied children - have been apprehended at the border in the six months since January.
Thursday's Catholic demonstration was the second consecutive day that religious groups had protested against the Trump administrations immigration policies
Five protesters made a human cross on the floor during the demonstration
President Trump has come under intense scrutiny for what he has described as a 'crisis on the southern border'
Protesters wore placards featuring pictures of migrant children who have died in U.S. custody
Most watched News videos
- Shocking moment passengers throw punches in Turkey airplane brawl
- Palestinian flag explodes in illegal Israeli West Bank settlement
- Moment fire breaks out 'on Russian warship in Crimea'
- Russian soldiers catch 'Ukrainian spy' on motorbike near airbase
- Mother attempts to pay with savings account card which got declined
- Shocking moment man hurls racist abuse at group of women in Romford
- Shocking moment balaclava clad thief snatches phone in London
- Shocking footage shows men brawling with machetes on London road
- Trump lawyer Alina Habba goes off over $175m fraud bond
- Staff confused as lights randomly go off in the Lords
- Lords vote against Government's Rwanda Bill
- China hit by floods after violent storms battered the country