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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Democratic congressional candidate is dragged out of hearing and pummeled to the ground
A fiery redistricting hearing at the Texas State Capitol erupted into chaos when a Democratic congressional candidate was dragged out of the chamber screaming. Isaiah Martin, 27, was ultimately wrestled to the ground and arrested after unleashing a blistering tirade accusing Texas Republicans of bowing to President Donald Trump and destroying democracy. Martin, a former staffer for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and one of eight Democrats vying to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner in Houston's 18th Congressional District, began a thunderous, impassioned statement when the House Redistricting Committee eventually cut off his microphone. 'You already know what the situation is going to be!' he bellowed at lawmakers. 'Many of you Republicans - I'm looking at you - you guys understand the game. You've gotta get Trump's endorsement! That's the name of the game now!' Once Martin's allotted two minutes of speaking time were up, Martin was still talking. It led Republican Rep. Cody Vasut to order the sergeant-at-arms to remove him. But Martin refused to go quietly. 'I'm not finished! I'm not finished!' he shouted, pounding the lectern as stunned attendees looked on during Thursday's meeting. 'What we need in this state are people that have the cajones to actually stand up! Because what you've done to this state is categorically horrific!' As security officers approached, Martin locked his legs and continued to rant about what he called a 'rigged and corrupt system' - accusing GOP lawmakers of bending to Trump's will, selling out working-class Texans, and deliberately gerrymandering political maps to eliminate Democratic voices. 'You are scared and terrified because you're seeking an endorsement!' he thundered. 'Donald Trump runs your vote here! He runs it!' As two officers grabbed his arms and began dragging him from the chamber, Martin turned to the lawmakers still seated on the dais. 'This is as a result of you - you did this!' he screamed. 'You have no shame. No shame for what you have done!' Just as he reached the exit of the committee room, Martin was pummeled to the floor by a Capitol security officer. The moment was caught on camera and posted to social media within minutes while a crowd of onlookers could be heard crying out in shock. 'Jesus! Get off of him!' a woman shouted as Martin struggled beneath the officer. 'He tripped,' one security official claimed. Martin's brother, who posted about the incident online, said Isaiah was cooperating and accused the state of trying to make an example out of him. 'He shouldn't have been arrested in the first place,' his brother wrote, adding that Isaiah had willingly walked with officers after being forcibly removed. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed Martin was arrested and booked into Travis County Jail on charges of criminal trespass, disrupting a public meeting, and resisting arrest, but on Friday, all charges were dropped. Martin's blistering testimony had begun calmly but with a righteous anger which quickly built into a full-scale political condemnation. 'It just seems like the committee is going through the motions,' he said at first. 'But the real conversation we should be having is about retaliation - you've seen it in New York, California, Maryland. It's coming.' He warned that Democratic leaders in other states would respond in kind by gerrymandering Republicans out of power. 'I look forward to New York Governor Kathy Hochul getting rid of you guys,' he said. 'I look forward to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy doing the same thing. And Maryland's Governor Wes Moore. All of them.' Then came the most explosive line: 'You can thank your failed, senile, dilapidated, Epstein-partying president for the work we're about to do to every single one of you.' Stunned lawmakers and attendees sat frozen as Martin continued. When asked to wrap up, he yelled back, 'No, I'm not going to finish! Because who doesn't have a say in this? The people of this state! The 40 million people you just kicked off healthcare! The people who now have to go without SNAP because of what you've done!' Martin ended with one final cry as he was physically pulled into the hallway: 'America will rise up against you!' His outburst and subsequent arrest came as Texas Republicans move forward with a controversial redistricting plan that could net the GOP up to five new congressional seats. Critics say the move is designed to suppress minority and Democratic votes in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dead members of Congress can't stop posting
After Zohran Mamdani's apparent victory in the New York Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) liked an Instagram post congratulating him on his win. The only problem — Jackson Lee died last July. From ghost-likes and new profile pictures to a posthumous endorsement, accounts for dead lawmakers have seemingly resurrected on social media in an unsettling trend of beyond-the-grave engagement. 'Dear White Staffers,' an anonymous account dedicated to highlighting experiences and perspectives of non-white congressional staffers, on Wednesday posted a screenshot of a notification that the late Texas representative's account had liked the congratulatory post for Mamdani, captioning the screengrab with a quizzical emoji. But Jackson Lee isn't the only deceased lawmaker whose presence continues to be felt online. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat who filled Lee's Texas seat for a brief two months before his own passing in March 2025, appeared to change his profile picture on X three weeks after he died. 'Happy #OpeningDay!' Turner's personal account posted on MLB Opening Day, adding the hashtag 'NewProfilePic' along with a photo of the late lawmaker holding a baseball. A community guidelines note affixed by X to the post noted that 'Sylvester Turner died on March 5, 2025.' The post appeared to shock many X users, who commented on how uncanny it was to see the deceased lawmaker active on their feeds. 'Grim,' one user wrote, while another asked: 'So no one on his team thinks this is weird?' Former Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who died in May, has also continued to make waves from beyond the grave, as his political social media accounts chugged back to life to notify followers that early voting had begun in the race to fill his vacant seat. Before his passing, Connolly had endorsed his former chief of staff, James Walkinshaw, to replace him, having announced that he planned to step away from Congress after his esophageal cancer returned in April. People on Connolly's mailing list have also reportedly continued receiving emails from the late representative's campaign encouraging Virginians to vote for Walkinshaw in Saturday's special election, the newsletter Chaotic Era highlighted — and directing donations to Walkinshaw's campaign. But after Connolly's posthumous post came under scrutiny this week, it disappeared from the late Virginian's page on Thursday. Brian Garcia, communications director for Walkinshaw's campaign, emphasized that the campaign does not direct the content posted from Connolly's accounts. "Supervisor Walkinshaw is proud to have earned the support of Congressman Connolly before he passed away and to now have the support of the Connolly family,' he said. The bio for Connolly's page notes that the lawmaker died in May, and says that posts on the page are made with Connolly's family's consent. Turner's account also appears to be run by his family, with the account recently posting a video featuring his daughter promoting a Houston parade he championed. But the case of posthumous tweeting fingers isn't a new phenomenon. An account for political activist, brief 2012 GOP presidential primary leader and staunch Trump supporter Herman Cain resurfaced two weeks after he died in July 2020 from a weekslong battle with Covid-19. The account posted attacks at then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and pro-Trump content — as well as conspiracy theories about the virus that had taken Cain's own life. The posts initially appeared under Cain's original account, bearing his name and profile picture. But his daughter shortly thereafter explained in a blog post that members of his family had taken over his social media presence and would continue posting under the new name 'Cain Gang.' The account remained active until March 2021, when it released its final post, saying 'It's time.' How to handle the social media presence of politicians when they die is a fairly new phenomenon. If a member of the House dies, for example, their office often remains open to fulfill constituent services — and sometimes continues posting to social media, albeit not typically under the lawmaker's name. And there's even less clarity around lawmakers' social media accounts that they use for campaigning, as opposed to official work. Zack Brown, who was the communications director for Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) when he died in office in March 2022, said there is no official process for handing off control of lawmakers' social media accounts if they die while still serving. That leaves communications staff in an awkward bind on how to proceed with languishing accounts, he said. Although there were content rules on what staff members were allowed to post to Young's accounts — political, policy-related and ideological posts were off-limits — there was no guidance on what to do with the accounts themselves. 'When a member of Congress dies, nobody seems to care about getting the log-ins from you, or assuming control of the Facebook page,' Brown said. 'I still, if I wanted to, could go post to Facebook as Congressman Young — I could still tweet today as Congressman Young. And nobody from archives or records or from House administration, or anybody, seems to give a shit.' Brown continued serving in the Alaskan's office for four months after his death, administering the affairs of the office and helping wind down its operations to prepare for Young's replacement after the special election. While the process of physically closing down Young's office was 'meticulous,' with individual files and knickknacks from the lawmaker's office requiring logging, the 'digital aspect of it was completely ignored,' Brown said. Brown noted that failing to properly administer a lawmaker's social media presence is also a constituent services issue, as many people reach out to their representative's offices via direct message for assistance. But most of all, Brown cautioned, a lack of procedure for how to handle dead lawmaker's' socials poses a host of security risks that would normally be unthinkable for physical record-keeping. 'I can't walk into the National Archives right now and just go behind closed doors and take whatever files from Congressman Young that I want,' Brown said. 'Why does somebody who had social media access have that power to do that with tweets?' Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
USA Today
07-03-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Who was Rep. Sylvester Turner? The Texas Democrat who died right after Trump's speech
Hear this story AI-assisted summary Turner began serving in the House in January, filling the seat of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who died in July 2024. The Texas House of Representatives voted unanimously to allow Turner to lie in honor at the Texas State Capitol on March 13 and 14. Politicians from both sides of the aisle mourned Turner, including Texas Rep. Randy Weber, California Rep. Pete Aguilar, and Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell. Tributes have been pouring in for Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas since he died this week shortly after attending President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress. Turner died on Wednesday at at his home in Washington, D.C. the age of 70 just two months into his term as a member of the House of Representatives. He announced in 2022 that he had been treated for bone cancer and was cancer-free. His cause of death remains unknown. "This comes as a shock to everyone," Houston Mayor John Whitmire told the Houston City Council on Wednesday. "I would ask Houstonians to come together, pray for his family, join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing." Turner's last post on X, formerly Twitter, was a rebuke of Trump's policies, posted minutes before the president's speech on Tuesday. 'Don't mess with Medicaid,' he said. Here's what to know about Turner as those who knew him in Texas, Washington, D.C., and beyond pay tribute to him. Who was Sylvester Turner? Born and raised in Houston, Turner spent the majority of his life in the city he represented as a politician. "He rose from poverty but never forgot where he came from," Whitmire said Wednesday. "It is a terrible loss for the city and a personal loss for me." His family said in a statement that they were "requesting fervent prayers from all who knew and loved him." "Congressman Turner was the consummate public servant," they said. "But to us, he was our beloved father, grandfather, sibling, and relative." Turner served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for almost 30 years between 1989 and 2016. Turner then served as the mayor of Houston between 2016 and 2024 before he announced his candidacy to fill a Congressional seat left by the death of Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in July at the age of 74. She had been battling pancreatic cancer for several months. Lee was a member of the House for almost 30 years, serving between 1995 and 2024. Turner was elected in November to fill Lee's seat, and his term began in January. Turner will lie in honor On Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives voted unanimously, 148-0, to allow Turner to lie in honor at the Texas State Capitol. According to the resolution passed, Turner will lie in honor at the Hall of the House of Representatives on March 13 and 14 next week. Turner served as the Speaker Pro Tempore for the 78th, 79th and 80th Texas State Legislatures. 'A devoted public servant' Following the news of his passing, politicians from across the aisle mourned Turner. "Brenda Gail and I are heartbroken by the passing of my friend Sylvester Turner," wrote Republican Texas Rep. Randy Weber. "He was a devoted public servant who cared deeply for Houstonians. Just last night, we spoke on the House Floor − life is too short." California Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, called Turner's death tragic. 'He wasn't here very long, but his tenure will be felt by everyone,'' Aguilar told USA TODAY. Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell, a fellow member of the Congressional Black Caucus, told USA TODAY that 'all of us are reeling'' from the news. 'He may have only been a colleague for a short period of time, but he's left such an indelible imprint on our caucus,'' Sewell said. 'He was an amazing mayor. Sheila Jackson Lee's footsteps are hard to fill. He filled them and really made his own imprint and we will miss him.' Rodney Ellis, a Harris County Commissioner in Houston, told USA TODAY that he was devastated by the news of Turner's passing. Ellis had known Turner since they were both teens living in the Houston area. 'We carried numerous legislative proposals together, covered one another's backs, stirred up a lot of good trouble together, made some differences,' Ellis said. Contributing: Riley Beggin and Deborah Barfield Berry Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
