LIMA, Ohio (WLIO)- July 17 marks five years since the death of Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader and longtime advocate for voting rights.
Local leaders plan to honor his legacy with a protest on Thursday, July 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the Allen County Courthouse to speak out on voting access. At 6:45 p.m., anyone is welcome to meet at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and march to Martin Luther King Park.
“If you’ve done your research on John Lewis, you know he was brutally beaten crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and that was to register to go vote. Those types of things, we will never stand down for,” said Lima 5th Ward Councilman Thomas Jones.
“He started when he was just 23 years old, to the day he died at the age of 80. He fought for justice, opportunity and freedom for all of our citizens. There’s nothing more important right now than defending voting rights. The bedrock of democracy is the ability to vote. And there are national and state efforts that are trying to limit how you can register to vote, what ID you need to have, and who can drop off absentee ballots,” said Rochelle Twining, chair of the Allen County Democratic Party.
Both events are open to the public. For more information, you can visit their website, allenohdems.org.
