U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in his office on Capitol Hill. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died July 17.

Susan Walsh / AP

The body of civil rights icon and long-time Rep. John Lewis will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol beginning Monday.

There will be an invitation-only ceremony in the afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda. That will be followed by public viewings of his casket Monday evening and all day Tuesday.

Due to coronavirus concerns, the public viewing will take place outdoors, at the top of the Capitol’s East front steps. Members of the public will file past on the East Plaza, according to a joint announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Social distancing will be enforced, and — in keeping with citywide orders — masks will be required to enter the line.

The schedule for the public viewing is:

  • Monday, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A number of parking restrictions and road closures are also planned between approximately 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday as a motorcade procession makes its way to the Capitol. The Metropolitan Police Department announced the following road closures as the motorcade proceeds:

  • Suitland Parkway
  • I-695 and I-395
  • Maine Avenue SW
  • Raoul Wallenberg Place SW
  • Independence Avenue SW from 14th Street to Lincoln Memorial Circle
  • 23rd Street from Lincoln Memorial Circle to Constitution Avenue NW
  • Constitution Avenue from 23rd Street to 3rd Street NE
  • 17th Street from Constitution Avenue to K Street NW
  • H Street from 17th to 15th Street NW
  • 15th Street from Constitution Avenue to K Street NW
  • 12th Street Tunnel
  • Pennsylvania Avenue from 15th Street to 3rd Street NW
  • 3rd Street from Constitution Avenue to Independence Avenue SW
  • Independence Avenue from 3rd Street SW to 2nd Street SE
  • 2nd Street SE from Independence Avenue to Constitution Avenue NW

The Georgia Democrat died July 17 at the age of 80. Six days of events honoring his life have been planned in Alabama, the District and Georgia. The “Celebration of Life” began Saturday in Troy, Alabama, his birthplace. A military honor guard is scheduled to escort Lewis’ body on Sunday across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where he and other peaceful protesters were brutally beaten by state troopers in 1965.

The civil rights icon, who spent more than 30 years in Congress, will also lie in repose at the Alabama and Georgia state capitols.

His family has asked that, in light of the pandemic, members of the public not travel to D.C. to pay their respects. “Virtual tributes may be posted online using the hashtags #Beloved Community or #HumanDignity,” Pelosi and McConnell said in their announcement. The public events will also be live-streamed.

The family has encouraged people to organize “John Lewis Virtual Love Events” to watch the ceremonies at home and to place blue or purple ribbons on their front doors or in their yards “to commemorate his life.”

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