A sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives by Democratic members halted legislative action for nearly 11 hours Wednesday and appeared likely to continue into Thursday as the protesters turned to Periscope and Facebook Live to broadcast demands for a vote on legislation to restrict gun purchases by suspected terrorists.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., reconvened the House after 10 p.m. for a vote on an unrelated issue, but while the vote went forward, chaos reigned, with Democrats chanting in the well of the House in a demonstration unprecedented in modern times.

Ryan made no effort to clear the demonstrating members of Congress from the House floor, and some Democrats appeared prepared to spend the night in the chamber. Pillows and blankets in preparation for a long night could be seen from the House gallery where spectators were watching the proceedings.

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“In residency, when I was trying to be a doctor, we would stay up sometimes from 24 to 36 hours and I’ve certainly slept at nurses stations,” said Rep. Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, who went home to grab his glasses and a toothbrush to prepare to overnight. “And I think that is the least of our problems … because how comfortable is that mom that lost her child in Orlando?”

It was dramatic political theater 10 days after a gunman who’d twice been investigated for links to terrorism attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded, and just one day after the Senate failed to move forward legislation intended to block suspected terrorists from purchasing weapons.

Adding to the drama, C-SPAN, the company that broadcasts House proceedings, stopped airing the developments at 11:25 a.m., when Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who was presiding when members began the sit-in, declared the House in recess and ordered cameras turned off.

C-SPAN’s usual broadcast image of the House chamber, with an overlay tabulating the vote, returned after Ryan ordered members to reconvene. But other networks highlighted the unusual nature of the day by showing a split screen that contrasted the seeming calm of the C-SPAN image with a raucous feed from Facebook Live of Democrats in the House well chanting loudly.

Ryan was unable to gain control, and he left the dais, with Republicans looking exasperated at a rare revolt of minority party members against the majority that usually can call the shots unchallenged. On the vote, the House failed to override President Barack Obama’s veto of an unrelated House resolution.

The Democrats seemed almost giddy with their revolt, singing “We Shall Overcome” and relishing their ability to bring proceedings to a halt. Holding sheets of paper with the names of gun violence victims above their heads, they chanted “No bill, no break” and “shame, shame, shame” so loudly that they drowned out Ryan.

“I’m very proud of my colleagues. We’ve got to do something radical,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat. “This is the way great movements began. This is the way the March on Washington started, and Rosa Parks, and all the great movements that we can remember started with just a idea.”

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He added, “We shut down the floor today and there won’t be any legislative activity this week unless we are respected. The beauty of it is that it’s spontaneous!”

Democrats Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a revered civil rights leader, with sparking the debate. Another civil rights leader, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, held a sign that read “Emanuel 9” in memory of the victims of the Charleston church shooting last year that also had sparked calls for tougher gun laws.

They were cheered on by visitors in the House galleries, who broke the rules by loudly cheering them on and chanting. Outside the Capitol, a crowd gathered holding rainbow signs with the words “Disarm Hate.”

Earlier, Clyburn had vowed to stay in the House chamber all night if needed. Republicans called the sit-in an obstructionist publicity stunt.

The role of live streaming social media platforms in the day’s events heightened the sense of rebellion, with some analysts comparing the events to internet-fueled uprisings in other nations. C-SPAN officials explained the network’s failure to air the protest after Poe ordered a recess by pointing out that it does not control the cameras in the House chamber.

But as frustration grew online that C-SPAN was not carrying the sit-in live, lawmakers took the initiative to ensure coverage.

Tweeting #TurnOnTheCameras, Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat from California, turned to his Periscope app to live-stream the protest. Thousands of people joined his stream, and by Wednesday evening, C-SPAN had turned to Peters’ feed to broadcast the impassioned pleas of Democrats for consideration of gun-purchase limits on people named on the no-fly list.

“How many families and communities will be torn apart by our epidemic of gun violence before Republicans summon the courage to act?” said Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, in a speech that C-SPAN carried from a Facebook stream by Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, Texas. “How many more times will they block the ‘No Fly, No Buy’ legislation that would help keep us safe? Their inaction is a national disgrace, and House Democrats will not stand for it any longer. And so we sit!”

Wasserman Schultz, her voice breaking, also read a letter from former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head and critically wounded Jan. 8, 2011, as she met with constituents outside a Safeway store near Tucson, Ariz.

“Speaking is difficult for me, but I haven’t been silenced,” wrote Giffords, who now leads a gun-control group called Americans for Responsible Action. “And neither should the American people. Their representatives must vote to prevent gun violence.”

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong defended Poe’s decision to recess the House as the sit-in progressed.

“The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed, subject to the call of the chair,” she said.

A senior House Republican aide said it was worth noting that when House Democrats were in the majority, “they not only shut off the cameras, they actually shut off the lights.”

It was the first time in history that lawmakers in the minority used social media to circumvent the power held by the chamber’s majority party and the first time C-SPAN tapped into a social media resource to bypass the majority’s grip on its operations.

“We have not done this before,” said Howard Mortman, C-SPAN’s director of communications. “We’ve incorporated social media extensively in our overall coverage. But what’s happening right now, to be able to put on TV Periscope and Facebook Live video to this extent, is the first time we’ve ever done this for our coverage of the House.”

“What’s extraordinary for us today is House members are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Periscope to show what’s happening on the House floor when it’s not in session.”

(c)2016 McClatchy Washington Bureau

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