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Senator John McCain's D.C. Office Occupied : Police Take Deaf Activist Down

10:37 H | Topics: Activism - US Presidential Race 2008 - Washington DC

Yesterday Senator and Republican candidate for president John McCain's office in Washington D.C. was occupied by disability rights activists demanding a meeting with McCain to ask for his support for the Community Choice Act. The legislation reforms Medicaid payments by allowing those with disabilities to use their benefits for community-based care instead of nursing homes.

Approximately forty ADAPT activists participated in the protest. They entered through security at the Russell Senate building, before proceeding to McCain’s second floor office. The activists then entered the office in mass, filling it to capacity and blocking both doors. They chanted, “We want McCain, and “Just like a nursing home, you cant get out,” as well as other refrains.

After about an hour of negotiations among Capital police, activist and Senator McCain’s staff, police began arresting protesters. Because this was a disability rights protest, it would make logical sense that some of the activists would be disabled, which covers a wide range. But when a deaf activist wasn't responding to police orders, she was taken down, literally.

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