In D.C., Masked Mourners Brave Heat, Virus Fears To Honor John Lewis

Mourners braved both coronavirus fears and brutal heat Tuesday to pay their respects to the late Rep. John Lewis, the first Black lawmaker to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda.

Those who came said it was important to personally honor a civil rights icon who died just as America was confronting another national reckoning over entrenched racial iniquities.

“He was worth the virus risk and worth every drop of sweat,” said Alicia Patterson, 66, who came from Maryland with three generations of her family to observe Lewis’ flag-draped casket. “He worked hard for all of us, and he deserved this and more.”