Al Sharpton and National Action Network Begin Hunger Strike for Loretta Lynch Confirmation

The civil rights activist and icon Al Sharpton has begun a hunger strike in an effort to get the Republican controlled Congress to confirm Loretta Lynch for the position of Attorney General.

The hunger strike was announced in a press release from Sharpton's group, the National Action Network. The decision to take such drastic action is due to the fact that Congress has taken more than 150 days to confirm Lynch to the position, an unheard of delay for such a crucial position.

The statement cites the recent murder of Walter Scott in South Carolina as a reason why Lynch must be confirmed to the position immediately. Scott was murdered by an officer who placed a weapon next to his dead body in order to make the shooting seem justified. The officer lied about the incident in his police report, and the truth only came to light when a bystander made public a video of the incident he had shot.

"Senate leaders must hear the call of the people who want to see a vote called for Loretta Lynch," said Janaye Ingram, NAN National Executive Director. "She is a twice unanimously confirmed United States Attorney and the fact that she has yet to be confirmed, five months after the nomination is nothing more than partisan politics.  We stand with Loretta Lynch and are so in support of this cause that we are willing to sacrifice our daily meals to impress upon the U.S. Senate that it's time to call a vote."

The hunger strike campaign will be accompanied by an effort to turn up the temperature on Congress by having people write letters and make phone calls to their representatives. NAN also says that it will begin write a series of opinion pieces in newspapers in an effort to draw more attention to the cause.