Members of Congress join Rep. John Lewis on the floor of the House (John Nichols / Twitter)

As members of Congress got comfortable on the floor of the House on Wednesday to protest a lack of action on gun control legislation, House Speaker Paul Ryan moved quickly to block any footage of the protest, ordering C-SPAN cameras in the room turned off. But that didn’t stop the public interest cable channel, which is broadcasting live video footage shot by Rep. Scott Peters on the popular streaming app Periscope.

Apparently, Ryan’s decision to turn off C-SPAN just added fuel to the fire. Politicus USA reports:

As soon as Ryan turned off C-SPAN’s cameras on the House floor, interest in the protest grew exponentially. Democrats on the House floor are hearing that Republicans are getting nervous about the protest, but they are afraid to give in. Republicans fear that giving in for the Democrats’ demand for a vote on gun control would lead to more problems for them later.

Politicians have taken to Twitter to share their sentiments with the hashtag#NoBillNoBreak:

A protest has also begun to gather steam on the Capitol steps:

Watch live video coverage of the sit-in here.

—Posted by Emma Niles

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#congress#democrats#gun control#house of representatives#john lewis#national#paul ryan#politics#protest#republicans#senate#sit-in#usa