Five House members were arrested outside the Sudanese embassy during a protest Tuesday.
The lawmakers were protesting the Sudanese government’s decision to ban 16 aid groups from Darfur, according to the New York Times.
Reps. John Lewis (D-GA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), James McGovern (D-MA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) of California and Keith Ellison (D-MN) were arrested for crossing a police line, a misdemeanor.
The lawmakers have already been released, a Secret Service spokesman told the New York Times.
The House members made statements at the demonstration, and Lewis lamented global inaction to end violence in Darfur.
“I don’t understand how the world can just stand by and watch the slaughter of innocent victims in Darfur,” Lewis said in a statement. “Haven’t we learned the hard lessons of Rwanda and Bosnia, of the Holocaust?”
Three others were also arrested during the protest.
