Scott Powers
Democratic congressional candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost was arrested Thursday while taking part in a voters’ rights march in Washington.
Frost, who is running for the seat opening in Florida’s 10th Congressional District in Orange County, was arrested, detained, and cited for incommoding during the rally in Lafayette Square, the Washington park behind the White House, according to his campaign.
Frost called it an act of non-violent resistance.
In Washington, incommoding — obstructively crowding parks, streets, or buildings — is a misdemeanor after police tell a crowd to disperse. It’s punishable by a fine of up to $250 and or up to 90 days in jail. Frost’s campaign said he paid the fine and the charge was dropped.
The arrests were made by the U.S. Park Police, an agency of the National Park Service. The Park Police released the following statement:
“On Thursday, November 18, 2021, a group affiliated with a permitted demonstration advocating for voting rights reforms obstructed pedestrian traffic on the North White House sidewalk. 135 individuals, including Maxwell Alejandro Frost, refused to comply after three dispersal warnings and were issued citations for incommoding and were subsequently released without incident.”
Frost and his campaign sought Friday to fashion the arrest — and his participation in the march — as reflecting his commitment to fighting for voters’ rights and voting protections.
“I refuse to be complacent when so many across our country are denied the right to vote and choose their leaders,” Frost said in a statement released Friday by his campaign.
CD 10, which covers western Orange County, is being vacated by three-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who is running for the Senate.
Other Democrats running in CD 10 this year include Sen. Randolph Bracy, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the Rev. Terence Gray, civil rights lawyer Natalie Jackson, and teacher Teresa Tachon. Republican candidates include nonprofit executive Willie Montague and Mahendranath Troy Rambaransingh.
Montague commented on the incident.
“Why did Maxwell Frost get to pay a fine for disobeying the commands of the Capitol Police? By his logic and that of his allies in the Democrat party, he was engaged in an insurrectionist act that should have landed him in solitary confinement in the DC jail,” Montague said. “I guess he pulled out his ‘Black Privilege’ card, which I am told only works if you bow down to the masters of the progressive political plantation.”
The Lafayette Park rally was led by the Rev. William Barber II, cochair of the Poor People’s Campaign, and Ben Jealous, former president of the NAACP.
“I walk in the steps of our ancestors who used nonviolent resistance to fight for justice for all people — elders like John Lewis and Ella Baker,” Frost added.
