Councilman Lander Arrested Protesting Tax Bill In Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. — City Councilman Brad Lander was arrested in Washington Wednesday as he joined a group of local activists protesting the GOP's tax bill — which is estimated to drive up the city's already high tax burden — inside the Capitol Building.

Lander — who represents Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace and Kensington — took to the Capitol Building with a group of Brooklyn activists to join Ady Barkan, co-founder of the Fed Up Campaign, to protest the bill's cuts to health care.

"Being arrested with @AdyBarkan in the halls of Congress while singing 'This Land Is Your Land' & fighting for a country where we provide health care for those who need it instead of tax breaks for billionaires is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life," Lander wrote on Twitter.

Thank you @bradlander for coming to protest the #GOPTaxScam & support @AdyBarkan & our movement. #KillTheBill pic.twitter.com/SLlboWcjyF
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 14, 2017

The councilman was one of 84 people arrested at Capitol Hill when they refused police's request to move their protest from public spaces, the Huffington Post reported.

The bill, which is set to hold it's final vote next week, would go into effect in 2018 and lower the tax rate for corporations and top individuals, the New York Times reported. It could also drop home prices around the city by 10 percent or more, increase the state's tax burden and devastate the city's affordable housing construction.

Lander's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Image: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for New York Times