Jeff Sessions Nomination Update: NAACP Occupies Senator's Office Day Before Confirmation Vote

Police arrested NAACP President Cornell Williams Brooks and 10 other activists Monday for occupying the Mobile, Alabama, office of attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a local ABC affiliate reported. The arrests came just hours after authorities dropped charges against Brooks and others stemming from a Jan. 3 occupation of the same office.

More than 100 people joined the protests at Sessions' office, which was closed Monday, WVTM reported. The Mobile Police arrived after receiving a trespassing complaint and asked all protestors and media to leave. Police made arrests after approximately 20 of the protesters refused to leave, the station said.

Along with other civil rights groups, the NAACP has been a vocal opponent of Sessions, who could be confirmed as attorney general as early as Tuesday. Since President Donald Trump nominated Sessions for the nation's highest law enforcement position in November, the four-term Senator has come under fire for his record on voting rights, race, immigration and police reform.

Earlier in the day, a Mobile municipal prosecutor dropped trespassing charges against the six NAACP leaders who conducted a sit-in of Sessions' office earlier this month. The charges, which carry a penalty of up to three months in jail and a $500 fine, were dropped against Brooks, Alabama chapter president Benard Simelton, Mobile branch president Lizzetta McConnell, Joe Keffer of the Alabama Moral Movement, NAACP Youth & College director Stephen Green and NAACP youth fellow Devon Crawford. The lawyer for some of the activists said they would have preferred to enter a plea and "accept responsibility," AL.com reported.

"They feel their point would be made better [with a conviction plea] and that having a conviction is the lesser of two evils with the main one being Jeff Sessions getting the [attorney general] appointment," attorney Carolyn Shields said. "We're still committed to fight. It will go on."