Eleven religious protesters were arrested Thursday for protesting Medicaid cuts outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel’s office, according to a report.
Roughly 50 protesters gathered for a rally on Capitol Hill protesting the GOP’s proposed cuts to Medicaid expansion and later marched into the Senate office building, according to Religion News Service (RNS).
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Capitol police officers ordered the protesters to cease and desist the demonstration, which is illegal in any of the Capitol buildings, according to a U.S. Capitol Police statement.
William Barber II, a liberal pastor from North Carolina, was among the eleven arrested. Barber has previously been arrested for civil disobedience in civil rights demonstrations.
The march coincided with the release of the revised GOP healthcare bill, which the protesters claimed would harm vulnerable citizens.
“We’re saying today it’s time for other clergy to come,” Barber said at the rally, RNS reported. “It’s time for moral agents to step up. It’s time for us to go down to the house of power and challenge the way power is being used.”
All eleven were released after paying a fine.