[Infowarrior] - GOP cuts off US House cameras, so Democrats Periscope gun control sit-in

[Richard Forno]

GOP cuts off US House cameras, so Democrats Periscope gun control sit-in

Rep. Scott Peters turns to social media to broadcast protest.

by David Kravets - Jun 22, 2016 3:33pm EDT

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/gop-cuts-off-us-house-cameras-so-democrats-periscope-gun-control-sit-in/

If there's anything that members of Congress can agree on, it's that they can't agree on anything. So on Wednesday, Democrats took to the House floor to stage a sit-in and protest their GOP counterparts' refusal to consider gun control legislation in the wake of the recent Orlando mass shooting.

The GOP's response was to cut the C-SPAN feed of the floor protest. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who controls the House C-SPAN feed, decided censorship was the proper route. But the C-Span feed was quickly restored via Twitter-owned Periscope from Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat from California. Here is Peters' feed. The video is spotty.

The Democrats are urging gun legislation to land on the House floor. Hopefully Peters' mobile phone has a big battery, as about 40 House Democrats vowed "to occupy the floor of the House until there is action."

The protest started about 11:30am ET and was continuing at the time this post was published. Later in the day, Facebook live was also being used to broadcast the feed to C-SPAN.

The move comes days after the Senate brushed aside four gun control measures. Now Democrats in the House are demanding that the full body consider gun control measures.
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