Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected the wishes of a civil rights icon’s family for a final honor.
Johnson shot down a request for Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol, CNN reported Friday. Johnson, a prominent fixture in Democratic politics and the Civil Rights Movement for six decades, died Tuesday at the age of 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder.
Following his death, his family released a schedule of a celebration of life and funeral services that will take place in Chicago, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. to honor Jackson’s legacy in “places of profound significance to him.”
According to unnamed sources who spoke with CNN, the family’s request for Jackson to lie in honor at the Capitol was denied by Johnson, 54, to maintain precedent and was not politically motivated.
One CNN source likened the decision of denying Jackson’s family’s request to denying the honor to conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and former Vice President Dick Cheney, and that to lie in honor at the Capitol has been reserved for select military and government officials.
The Daily Beast reached out to Mike Johnson’s office for comment.
According to the Architect of the Capitol, lying in honor at the U.S. Capitol is a rare tribute given to notable private citizens, allowing the public to pay their respects in the Rotunda. This differs from lying in state, which is reserved for government officials and military leaders.
In 2005, civil rights activist Rosa Parks became the first woman to lie in honor following her death at age 92, with former President George W. Bush and congressional leaders laying wreaths at her casket.
The last person to lie in state was former President Jimmy Carter, who died in December 2024, with congressional leaders, including Speaker Johnson, sending a letter to Carter’s son announcing the “intent for the 39th President to lie in state.”
Following Jackson’s death, President Donald Trump, 79, paid tribute to him in a long post on Truth Social, which he also used to attack former President Barack Obama, 64.
Earlier in the month, Trump posted a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
“Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him. He had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand,” Trump wrote, framing his relationship with Jackson as one of mutual respect.
Jackson helped sustain the Civil Rights Movement’s momentum after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which focused on economic empowerment, voter registration, and advocacy. He ran for president twice and also successfully intervened in two separate global hostage negotiations.
After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017, Jackson continued his activism and was arrested in D.C. in 2021 for protesting nationwide voter restrictions pushed by the Republican Party.
The two-time presidential candidate, like Parks, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., by former President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Sources close to Jackson’s family told the Chicago Sun-Times that the push for a Capitol viewing is not over after Johnson denied their request, and alternative D.C. locations are being discussed.
“Although his body is absent from us, his spirit suffuses and infuses us, and it charges us to continue with the work,” said Santita Jackson, his eldest child, according to the Associated Press.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Rainbow PUSH Coalition for comment.
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