By Esteban Fernandez
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — After 15 months of unproductive efforts to speak to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, six protesters led by clergy in Morgantown decided a firmer statement was needed.
Following the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. on his holiday, they put real stakes on the line to hold authority to account. After declining to depart the building Capito’s office is located in, Morgantown police arrested the six for trespassing and obstructing an officer.
“When it came to nonviolence, Dr. King practiced civil disobedience,” Stephen Lowe, pastor of the Morgantown Church of the Brethren Mennonite, said. “We stand in that tradition.”
The arrest of the Morgantown six is the second arrest made at Capito’s office in the span of a year. Another group of six was arrested in Charleston last June. The decision for bolder action comes after protesters say they’ve experienced Capito’s office drag its feet when it comes to arranging a meeting with the senator. While Lowe didn’t want to ascribe intention to anyone, he said it felt intentional.
Kelley Moore, spokeswoman for Capito, said the senator meets with constituents from every corner of West Virginia on a regular basis. Moore pointed out Capito spent Wednesday traveling the state and engaging directly with state residents. Capito’s office sent out a press release Wednesday stating she had been in Fairmont talking to restaurateurs at Muriale’s Italian Kitchen.
“Our office is always accessible to those who want to have a productive conversation,” Moore said. “The small group of individuals who stopped by the Morgantown office did not request a meeting and were clearly there to protest, not engage constructively. Senator Capito will continue doing what she has always done — listening to constituents, working hard for them and focusing on real issues that impact West Virginia families.”
However, Moore did not address why the formal approaches the group attempted for 15 months have not led to a meeting. Lowe said his group got pleasantries from her office at first, but that the senator ghosted the group whenever she was in town. The group wants a public forum with the senator to have their questions answered and hear their demands.
“Our specific policy demands were for her to either reverse or vote effectively on the ACA extended subsidy cuts and support those in full, to reverse the cuts to food assistance programs like SNAP food stamps,” Warren Hilsbos, a Fairmont based activist, said. “Barring a full reversal, present a clear, meaningful plan for how to achieve similar results for West Virginians.”
Hilsbos was one of the people arrested alongside Lowe. Also facing charges for trespassing are the Rev. Stacy Chrise-Tritt of Westover and Pisgah United Methodist churches, the Rev. Stephen Prince of Highland Park, Jones and Sabra United Methodist churches and Ace Parsi, community organizer and congressional candidate for U.S. House District 2. Parsi has been affiliated with Morgantown Indivisible, a grassroots activist group.
For Lowe, the stakes his group got arrested over are real. Capito voted for President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which funds tax cuts for the country’s wealthiest residents but cutting social safety net programs such as Medicaid and for residents who rely on subsidies to afford health care because they are self employed or don’t receive health care through their employment. It also raises taxes on average for the poorest 40% of households, according to the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy. The law also restricted requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which would impact roughly 36,000 residents according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail in November.
Lowe fears the lack of health care accessibility and loss of SNAP will cause widespread suffering across the state. He said when affordability is lost, access is lost. When access is lost, lives are lost. As a clergyman, it’s his job to remind Capito of her most vulnerable constituents, he said.
Lowe said there was a long tradition of clergy and their supporters taking risks on behalf of the vulnerable and downtrodden who have no recourse against the powerful. Lowe added his religious beliefs are deeply entrenched in his actions. He said the teachings of Jesus are radically in solidarity with the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized.
“As someone who has been called to a religious life, as someone who sees themselves as a follower of Jesus, I’m called to imitate Christ and stand in solidarity with those who are suffering,” Lowe said. “Like those who are struggling and suffering, struggling to afford health care, struggling to pay for doctors visits that they need or the medications they need to live.”
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