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26 Arrested as demonstrators blocked some traffic at Reagan National Airport

Demonstrators say they were in the middle of the street to protests congress about voting rights.

WASHINGTON — More than two dozen people were arrested while protesting at Reagan National Airport Friday afternoon.

According to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), a group of demonstrators began blocking the roadway outside of Terminal B/Cjust after 2 p.m. Police say the demonstrators were advocating for voting rights when they entered the roadway, blocking traffic.

RELATED: Texas House Democrats in DC urge Congress to pass federal voting rights bills

MWAA said there was traffic still moving on the baggage claim roadway and on the far left side of the terminal. 

According to MWAA, the demonstrators ignored police instructions to exit the roadway and 26 people were arrested and released on summons for violating Airport Regulation 9.5, a Class 4 misdemeanor. 

Airport operations were not impacted. Police have cleared the scene. All lanes are open. Traffic flow is resuming. Airport operations remain normal. The roadway was blocked for approximately 10 minutes before normal traffic flow resumed.  

The demonstrators were protesting against the federal voting rights bill. In July, more than 50 Texas lawmakers landed in the Washington suburb of Sterling, Virginia, Monday evening and were taken on two large charter buses from a private terminal to a parking lot near the main terminal of Dulles Airport.

RELATED: Texas House Democrats in DC urge Congress to pass federal voting rights bills

“We are determined to kill this bill,” said state Rep. Chris Turner, who said he and his colleagues will remain away from their state until the special session ends early next month.

By leaving, Democrats again deny the GOP majority a quorum to pass bills, barely a month after a walkout thwarted the first push for sweeping new voting restrictions in Texas, including outlawing 24-hour polling places, banning ballot drop boxes and empowering partisan poll watchers.

“This is a now-or-never for our democracy. We are holding the line in Texas," said Democratic state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer. “We've left our jobs, we've left our families, we've left our homes. Because there is nothing more important than voting rights in America.”

RELATED: Texas Democrats leave state for Washington DC to try to stop GOP voting bill

RELATED: What's next now that GOP blocked the For The People Act?

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