The casket of John Lewis arrived in Washington D.C. on Monday, and preparations are underway for him to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The arrival ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET.
The late congressman and civil rights champion passed away earlier this month after an extended battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Lewis’ death drew an outpouring of grief across the nation, and mourners assembled at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday to attend his funeral and reflect on his participation in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.
Lewis’ casket arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Monday, and his motorcade is expected to hold a procession through Washington that will visit landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and Black Lives Matter Plaza. The journey will conclude at the Capitol Building, where Lewis will become the first African-American lawmaker to lie in repose at the Rotunda.
The in-person ceremony is invitation only since the coronavirus pandemic has closed the Capitol to public visitation. However, Lewis’ casket will be moved outside of the Capitol for the rest of the day afterwards, and the public viewing will continue until Tuesday night.
Watch above, via Washington Post.