FREEPORT, Ill. | The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been arrested along with a group of protesting northern Illinois workers during an act of civil disobedience in Freeport.
Michael Peery, a spokesman for Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said Jackson was taken into custody Wednesday with about a dozen workers. He was expected to be released later in the day.
Freeport police didn't immediately have comment.
Jackson was protesting with a group of workers on the verge of losing their jobs and had said he was prepared to get arrested.
Sensata Technologies is owned by Bain Capital and in the process of moving its Freeport manufacturing operations to China. That'll cost Freeport 170 jobs.
Company officials say most of the plant's revenues are generated in Asia, making the move a logical decision.
Jackson called the situation a case where American trade policy is foreign policy.
The civil rights leader has been among other high-profile supporters who've visited the workers. The Rev. Al Sharpton recently held a rally in Freeport. Also, Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin have visited workers.
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