Protestors walk from the end of the block to the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse in Montgomery on Monday, August 18, 2025. People gathered at the courthouse to urge the state’s Congressional delegation to repeal the budget reconciliation bill they passed in July because of the negative impact that it will have for families who are struggling throughout the state. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
Civil rights groups and faith organizations staged a mock funeral at the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse in Montgomery Monday in protest of a federal budget with steep cuts to health and hunger programs.
“Beloved, today we stand not only in protest, but in mourning,” said Rev. Valtoria Jackson, lead organizer for the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign in Montgomery, shortly before marching into the courthouse to seek a meeting with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, who voted for the legislation. “We are gathered as if at a funeral for the millions of lives that the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ that passed in July 2025 has placed under a death sentence.”…