Washington Congressional leaders, political luminaries, and members of the public will pay their respects to late Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon, in Washington, DC, this week. He will be lying in the state on the United States Capitol on Monday and Tuesday.
An aircraft carrying Lewis’s coffin arrived at Andrews Joint Base, just outside of Washington, just after 11 a.m. on Monday, after a weekend of service in Alabama, where he was born, honoring his legacy and their lifelong fight for civil rights. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and members of Lewis’s family encountered the plane.
After Lewis’s coffin was loaded into a hearse, the funeral procession led to the US Capitol, passing iconic sights such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House and the Supreme Court. Mourners lined up on the streets along the route, and when the hearse pulled into Black Lives Matter Plaza, “Amazing Grace” was heard.
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On Sunday, the former Georgia congressman made his last trip across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the same bridge he crossed over 50 years ago on the march to Montgomery. The day of the march, March 7, 1965, would be known as “Bloody Sunday.”
After his coffin was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a horse-drawn crate, Lewis was left to rest at the Alabama Capitol on Sunday afternoon.
How to look: John Lewis is in a state
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Than: The late Congressman John Lewis is in state at the US Capitol.
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Date: Monday July 27
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Hour: 1 pm ET
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Location: The United States Capitol, Washington, DC
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Online streaming: Live on CBSN: in the player above and on your streaming or mobile device
Lewis’s body arrived at the US Capitol on Monday afternoon, and his coffin was brought to the roundabout by a military honor guard for an invitation-only ceremony attended by members of both houses of Congress.
Matt McClain / Pool via POOL / REUTERS
Speaking at the ceremony, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recalled that Lewis spoke at the March on Washington in 1963 and the violence he suffered in the fight for civil rights.
“John Lewis lived and worked urgently because the task was urgent,” said McConnell. “But even though the world around him made him bitter, he stubbornly treated everyone with respect and love, all so that, as his friend Dr. King put it, we could build a community at peace with ourselves. Today, we pray and trust that this peacemaker himself now rests in peace “
Pelosi recalled Lewis as the “conscience of Congress” and said that “God really blessed the United States with the life and leadership of John Lewis.”
While members of the public are urged to pay their respects virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, an outdoor public display is taking place, as Lewis will be lying in state at the top of the Front Steps. east of the US Capitol
Among those willing to pay their respects to Lewis on Monday are former Vice President Joe Biden, the alleged Democratic presidential candidate, and Jill Biden. Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will also attend the lie in the state. However, President Trump told reporters that he will not visit the United States Capitol to pay his respects to Lewis.
Luis died on July 17 at the age of 80 years. He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December. Lewis’s death caused a stir across the country and has fueled calls from Congressional Democrats for the Republican-controlled Senate to take action on legislation that strengthens voting rights and reverses the impacts of a Supreme Court decision. 2013 that destroyed a key provision of the landmark 1965 Rights Bill.
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