Congressman Reaches Millions with Live Video of Gun Control Sit-In

Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) has only been in Congress 3 and half years, he has not made gun safety one of his primary issues. But when his Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House decided to stage a sit-in to protest the silence and inaction of Congress in the wake of yet another military assault weapon massacre (Orlando), O'Rourke decided to not only participate, but also broadcast events through his phone.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and the Republican leadership decided to adjourn to recess in order to "shut off the mic" on their Democratic colleagues, who were calling for universal background checks and a "No Fly, No Buy" measure that would prevent suspected terrorists from legally acquiring weapons of war within our borders. Because the cameras inside the House chamber are controlled by the leadership, the video feed we associate with C-SPAN was abruptly cut off. That's when O'Rourke and his Communications Director John Meza leaped into action. Meza kept the Congressman supplied with a rotation of battery packs to allow the more-than-24 hour sit-in to be broadcast live throughout the world via Facebook Live. C-SPAN soon picked up the feed, meaning that millions of people had access to a debate that House Republicans had taken action to shut down.

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg soon took note, and posted a status lauding the innovative use of Facebook's new technology, listing O'Rourke's Facebook Live feed first among several Members of Congress who were spreading the word through social media.

@EricByler and Jenna Sokolowsky reporting for TYT Politics