Protesters descended upon Capitol Hill on Monday, demonstrating against the anticipated GOP health care bill. Approximately 80 protesters were arrested and charged with refusing to cease and desist; the protesters were charged under D.C. code § 22–1307 for crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.
According to NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Frank Thorp, 21 protesters were arrested at the House Office Buildings, while 59 were arrested at the Senate Office Buildings. One congressional intern, who spoke with Red Alert Politics under the condition of anonymity, was on site at the Rayburn House Office Building during the protests.
“I was getting ready to take a break from working at around 2:30 pm to go smoke and use the bathroom,” the intern stated. “As I was heading towards the elevators, I noticed a significant amount of police officers walking around the halls, with their radios going off,” he continued.
As the intern left the building, he mentioned coming across the protesters.
“[W]alking out of the Rayburn office building, I saw 5 people sitting on a bench with their hands behind their backs. At first I assumed they were waiting for somebody, but then saw they all had zip tie handcuffs on, and realized they must have been demonstrators,” he told Red Alert Politics.
“I struck up a conversation with a police officer who confirmed they were demonstrating in the halls, protesting the healthcare bill,” the intern continued. Taking a video of the encounter, the intern reported, “The protesters must’ve been sitting there for a while, but just before they were put into the police van, they started chanting ‘Don’t kill us! Kill the bill!’”
Police officers reportedly told the intern that the demonstrators had, “staged a protest in Paul Ryan’s and Mitch McConnell’s offices, among a few others, and that they had generally marched in the halls before they were arrested.”
According to TIME, the protesters also caused a ruckus near the offices of Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona as well.
“One police officer said that they were a part of a group called ADAPT,” the intern informed Red Alert Politics.
Vox reports that “ADAPT’s efforts have been complemented by those of a handful of progressive groups, including Our Revolution, a spinoff group from the Bernie Sanders campaign; UltraViolet, which is focused primarily on reproductive rights; and the Democratic Socialists of America.”
Other videos showed protesters loudly chanting slogans like, “You are killing people! You are systematically killing people! Healthcare is a human right,” and “Without my health care, I can’t have a lifesaving kidney transplant. Therefore, I will get sick, and I will die.”
“We were here two weeks ago, and we are back,” the protesters concluded.
