Protesters deliver 'coffin' to Capito’s office, denounce One Big Beautiful Bill

As reported in May by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy research group, approximately 522,000 children and adults are enrolled in West Virginia Medicaid. In 2023, more than 18% of the state’s residents participated in SNAP, placing West Virginia third-highest in the nation for residents using emergency food assistance.

The protest was a collaborative effort between the West Virginian Poor People Campaign and Bishop Barber’s Moral Monday movement — a regional movement of a coalition of clergy, moral leaders and advocates.

The Moral Monday movement includes 11 states across the country:

• Alabama
• Florida
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• West Virginia

All the states participated in state-level protests. Many resulted in arrests, including the arrest of movement leader Bishop William J. Barber, who has been arrested on several occasions.Ìý

When asked by the Gazette-Mail for a statement on Monday's protest, Capito cited her July 1 statement on the passage of the bill.

In the statement, Capito said, "the legislation puts Medicaid back on a more fiscally stable trajectory for those who need it."

On Monday, Capito sent out a statement similar to a release following a June 25 protest against the budget bill, "Everyone should have the right to make their voices heard in a respectful and peaceful way," she said. "The Big Beautiful bill, which is now law, focuses on the safety, security, and prosperity that the American people want and need. This comprehensive package reflects the priorities shared with President Trump — who West Virginians overwhelmingly supported in the recent election.�

'People are going to die'

About a half-dozen protesters delivered the cardboard coffin to Capito's office to symbolize the people they say might die because of passage of the bill.

Capito was in Washington, D.C., on Monday. After a request for a meeting at her office was denied, the protesters left about 10 minutes later without incident.

“My heart is broken," said Art Lane, founding member of United West Virginia. "People are going to die. People are going to go hungry. People are going to lose their health care. We should be bringing people up in America — especially here in West Virginia. You know, we have a low population, and they say 51,000 people are going to die each year because of this bill. Think about that. How many of them are going to be West Virginians?"

During the June 25 protest, six people — including two members of the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä City Council — were arrested shortly after beginning a sit-in protest outside Capito's office. Arrests included the 89-year-old Rev. Jim Lewis, who said he's been arrested at sit-ins “about eight or nine times.â€�

Archana Narasimhan, an activist at the June protest who left the building before officers began the arrests, also was in attendance Monday.

"What’s sad is that we have to say 'thousands' in order to get somebody’s attention," Narasimhan said. "You should be concerned that even five people will die because of a policy that doesn’t need to happen. This is a great visual to explain what can happen."

The West Virginia Poor People Campaign and United West Virginia plan to continue with the Moral Monday movement with protests in the coming weeks.Ìý