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ADAPT (755)
TITLE: Clinton, disability rights advocates reach accord on attendant services by Gary Bosworth, special to Access USA News Photo (possibly by Gary Bosworth): A line of ADAPT protesters, mostly in wheelchairs are chanting on the sidewalk outside a large stone building. Quinn Brisben and Ken Heard are at one end and Bob Kafka at the other. You can see barricades behind them. Caption reads: Members of ADAPT protest in front of the Marriot in San Francisco during the annual convention of the nursing home lobby, American Health Care Association. [This article continues on ADAPT 754 but the entire text is included here for easier reading. There is a statement by Gov. Clinton after this article.] On Monday, October 19, the Clinton/Gore campaign released a policy statement that forcefully supports attendant services for persons with disabilities instead of institutionalization The agreement worked out was the culmination of more than a month's negotiation between the Clinton/Gore campaign and the disability rights group ADAPT. In September, ADAPT contacted both the Bush/Quayle and the Clinton/Gore campaigns about the issue of attendant services. Both campaigns were asked to issue policy statements supporting independence for persons with disabilities through attendant services. A mid-October deadline for the statement was given because ADAPT was going to be In San Francisco for a national action at the site of the annual convention for the nursing home lobby, American Health Care Association (AHCA). While the Bush/Quayle campaign ignored the request, Clinton/Gore worked on a statement that was faxed to ADAPT as they were arriving in San Francisco on October 17. The Clinton/Gore statement went a long way to addressing the needs of attendant services, but was still missing the fact that a major crux of the problem had to with the bias in how federal regulations favor more expensive nursing home care instead of less expensive, more efficient attendant services Without the additional language, ADAPT went ahead with its planned non-violent protest march on Monday, October 19. Over 400 persons with disabilities marched in two `groups`, targeting the headquarters of Bush/Quayle and Clinton/Gore simultaneously. In response, the Bush/Quayle headquarters not only blocked off all wheelchair access to their headquarters, they also installed barricades blockading the entrances outside manned by platoons of police, Over at the Clinton/Gore headquarters no barricades were erected as more than 100 persons in wheelchairs from twenty states occupied every nook and cranny of the headquarters, leaving several dozen protesters lined up outside as police looked on without barricades After several hours of the occupation, an updated version of the earlier statement was faxed directly to ADAPT at the protest, from the Clinton/Gore national headquarters. The new revised statement was read to the assembled crowd of wheelchair warriors by Clinton’s director on national disability policy, Bobby Simpson. The final proposal is a far-ranging progressive document that: (1) persons with disabilities must be given the right to choose consumer-driven, community-based attendant services versus institutionalization, (2) employment as attendants by young women and men will be encouraged as an option under the National Service Trust Fund service to their community, (3) appointing a task force that will submit a reform package within the first 100 days of the Clinton Administration to overhaul federal regulations to remove their overwhelming institutionalization bias and instead propose regulations to make attendant services more available, and (4) the task force will include members with disabilities from prominent disability rights `groups` such as ADAPT. With this victory, the occupation was called a success by both the peaceful protesters in their wheelchairs and the workers of the Clinton/Gore campaign. That was in sharp contrast to the mood at the Bush/Quayle headquarters where the republican campaign refused to negotiate and instead issued a statement that the efforts by ADAPT were 'counter-productive' and 'a disservice to the disabled'. The next day, the mood changed again when California’s budget cuts in the state SSI/SSP of 16 1/2percent and attendant services of 12 percent were the subject of the action. The two sites targeted were the federal building and the state building in San Francisco. The police were caught off guard being stationed only at the state building. The federal protective service in charge of the federal building wasn't ready either. What followed was a declaration by ADAPT that the federal building was being turned into a nursing home for the day with all access in and out shut down. Police responded with mass arrests of 49 protesters in the plaza in front of the federal building as the protesters linked arms and wheelchairs together. The remainder of the group then continued on to the state building. Police had removed troops from the state building to go to the federal building. No arrests occurred at the state building as the group chanted and passed out fliers to passers-by. The 49 arrested were held for the day, ticketed, and released down at pier 38, which the police turned into a huge booking and holding facility. On the final planned day of protests, Wednesday, the AMCA convention hotel was the site of the dally protest. Police arrested 114 persons that day when the driveways and streets in front of the Marriott hotel were blocked by people using wheelchairs. It took hours to transport those arrested back down the pier. This prompted Mike Auberger of ADAPT to comment, "If I knew I would be spending so much time here I would have brought my fishing pole.” When released, the group marched in formation backto their own hotel for a night of celebration. It was a long week of work done getting the message out to the general public about the issue of attendant services as a basic civil rights issue. Among the celebrations held Wednesday night was a special wedding ceremony of two ADAPT protesters from Philadelphia and a musical concert put on by performers with disabilities that lasted into the wee hours. By all accounts, the week was a success. Even the police mentioned several times they were totally unprepared for the dedication and training of ADAPT members during the action to the point of admiration that the protesters never lost sight of why they were there - to expose the inhumanity of locking up persons with disabilities into nursing homes, when attendant services are less expensive, more humane, and let individuals retain their civil rights. the end TITLE: Statement of Governor Clinton on Personal Assistance Services I support efforts to make affordable personal assistance services available to Americans with disabilities. We must ensure that all people have the opportunity to live independent lives. People who have disabilities and have a need for personal assistance services should have maximum control over the care they receive. Personal assistance serves must be consumer driven- they must be met by the needs and desires of the user, not the dictates of the supplier. I believe that personal assistance services are of the utmost importance. I understand that every person has different needs. For this reason, I believe that every person has the right to personal assistance services. I believe that personal assistance services should be provided by a wide range of qualified individuals. In my proposal for a National Service Trust Fund, I have suggested that young men and women who go to college can pay for their education by spending two years working in jobs which serve our community - teaching our children, policing our streets, rebuilding our infrastructure. Employment in personal assistance services should be an option in this program, and I hope thousands of men and women choose it. This is only one of many ways in which we can expand the scope of available services. Personal assistance services should be a part of any comprehensive health care reform plan. For this reason, I intend to appoint a task force, including individuals with disabilities, on the role of personal assistance services and long term care in health care reform. Among other things, this task force should examine the role of federal regulations and funding which creates a presumption in favor of institutionalized care over home and community-based services. I have promised to submit a reform package to Congress in the first 100 days of my Administration. The task force will submit recommendations on reform in that time period. It is time for America to realize that silence on issues of concern to people with disabilities is as damaging as prejudice. As President, I will work with individuals with disabilities to empower people to live independently, I will bring people together and make this plan a reality.
ADAPT (752)
San Francisco Chronicle S.F.Police Being Trained How To Arrest Disabled Protesters San . Francisco police are bracing for a demonstration this month in which they may arrest dozens of wheelchair-bound protesters, an event that poses special problems for officers. Groups of officers have been taking a two-hour class at the Police Academy aimed at teaching them how to arrest and search disabled people and prevent wheelchairs from being used as weapons. The demonstration is planned in conjunction with the October 1'/-23 [sic] annual convention at Moscone Center of the American Health Care Association, an organization of nursing home and residential-care facility operators. A Denver group that goes by the name ADAPT, an acronym for Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, plans to have 400 protesters at the convention, said Michael Auberger, its organizer and co-founder. ADAPT wants some of the federal money that goes to nursing homes and residential-care facilities to go for attendant care for disabled people who live on their own. “Over the years, we've used various tactics in different situations," Auberger said. “We're very confrontational, and we're going to make sure we get in their face." The Police Academy courses are being taught by Paul Imperiale, the mayor's disability coordinator. He said officers are learning how to search a -person they have arrested without harming the person. Police also are being warned that some protesters may have life-support devices that must be handled with care. Vans with special wheelchair lifts will be available to take away arrested demonstrators.
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The Orlando Sentinel, Saturday, September 7, 1991 Title: Disabled plan to demonstrate at convention The Orange Sheriffs Office is preparing for a showdown when nursing home operators and activists in wheelchairs show up next month. By Christopher Quinn of the Sentinel Staff The stage has been set for a wild showdown next month in Orlando among nursing home operators, deputy sheriffs and hundreds of wheelchair-bound protesters, some on respirators. The activists, whose tactics include chaining themselves to buildings to halt conventions, want fewer people kept in nursing homes and more money devoted to caring for the disabled at home. They are members of Denver-based American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, or ADAPT. They plan to demonstrate at next month’s convention of the American Health Care Association at the Orange County‘ Convention and Civic Center. The association represents nursing home operators. If ADAPT members break the law during their protests — as they have in cities across the country — the Orange County Sheriff's Office plans to arrest them, possibly filling the county jail with people who require medical help. “Their aim is to be arrested," said Sgt. Jon Swanson, head of the Sheriffs Office intelligence unit. “Their whole tactic is confrontation.” ‘lt’s going to cost a lot of taxpayer money’ The Sheriff's Office will have to pay overtime to keep crowd and riot control squads on hand 24 hours a day during the four-day convention that begins Oct 6. “It's going to cost a lot of money, a lot of taxpayer money,“ Swanson said. An ADAPT newsletter about the planned protest says "Mickey Mouse and AHCA will never be the same after ADAPT travels to the tourist capital of the US." The newsletter boasts of how the group disrupted a speech by Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan earlier this year. Barbara Guthrie, an ADAPT organizer, said in an interview Friday that members are non-violent people willing to go to jail for their beliefs. “We'll push for arrest" she said. "There's thousands of people in nursing homes that don't need to be there.” Guthrie said ADAPT’s goal is for Medicaid to redirect 25 percent of its $23 billion nursing home budget to home care for the disabled. Guthrie-said she is confined to a wheelchair but is able to live at home because she gets a little help day getting dressed. Linda Keegan, a vice president for the nursing home association, said ADAPT does not seem interested in compromise. “What they're looking for is attention," Keegan said, adding that her group has met with ADAPT leaders twice this year to map out an agreement but that ADAPT continued to protest at meetings. “I really don’t believe what they’re looking for is to work anything out!" Keegan said the association's immediate concern is safety at the convention. She said she would not be surprised if ADAPT tried to block all the entrances at the mammoth building. They're pretty good," she said. Most of the 3,500 people attending the convention will stay at the Peabody Hotel across from the convention center on south International Drive. Swanson said ADAPT has reserved 80 rooms at the Clarion Plaza Hotel at the Convention Center just up the street. The group expects more than 300 members. In cities across the country ADAPT has blocked meetings, disrupted meetings and shut down offices as it sought to reach its goals. Last May in Washington, activists— more than 100 in wheelchairs — blocked entrances to the headquarters of the Health and Human Services Department to protest nursing homes. Some ADAPT members discarded their wheelchairs and crutches and tried to get past a police line securing the building. Some crawled under parked police cars and tried to squeeze past the legs of police officers in front of the entrances. Sheriff's crowd control officers will be trained in the next few weeks on how to arrest protesting quadriplegics and other disabled people without hurting them, Swanson said. Deputies might even find themselves under attack. Swanson said that in other cities, ADAPT members have formed wheelchair lines and rushed police barricades. Unless the ADAPT members were charged with felonies, which is unlikely, they would be processed through the county jail and released within a few hours. The jail, the state's most crowded, is under court order to release people accused of most non-violent crimes. Ed Hoyle, an assistant jail director, said if the protesters were arrested a second time, they probably would be held for a court appearance. The jail will have emergency medical workers on hand. For the protesters, the Orlando visit will not be all business. The ADAPT flier says, "There will be time at the end of the actions to play at Disney World and Epcot Center."
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The Orlando Sentinel, Thursday October 10, 1991 the best newspaper in Florida PHOTO by Phelan M Ebenhack/Sentinel: Three people (left to right: Frank Lozano, Bunnie Andrews? and Sue Davis) are standing in front of a wall. On the wall a cross with "Nursing Homes Kill" written on it is partially visable, as is the ADAPT flag (an American Flag with the stars arranged to form the wheelchair/access logo). The three are lifting up an old fashioned folding E & J manual wheelchair to hang it on the cross. Frank, who is blind and wears a headband and T-shirt with ADAPT on them, has his hand raised. Caption reads: Frank Lozano and Bunnie Andrews, both of Colorado Springs, and Sue Davis of Louisville, Ky., chain a wheelchair to a cross marked ‘Nursing Homes Kill.‘ Title: Disabled saw their message on many faces by Sharon McBreen of the Sentinel Staff Protesters say they made their message clear this week after 250 activists in wheelchairs converged on Orlando. “It’s almost as though they never felt it before we've gotten in their faces,” Diane Coleman said. “You can feel the impact of that. You can see it in their eyes." The members of ADAPT — Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today — carried a message to the American Health Care Association, which attracted 3,500 delegates to a convention this week at the Peabody Hotel. ADAPT membels want an alternative to nursing home care. And they want to live at home. During the convention, which ends today, ADAPT members tried to block the Peabody’s doors with their bodies and wheelchairs. Police arrested 75 protesters on trespassing charges. The group wants a fourth of the $23 billion Medicaid spends on nursing homes and other institutions transferred to at-home care. “We need to reach the `rank`-and-file members of AHCA and the American public," Coleman of Tennessee said at a Wednesday news conference. At least one convention delegate said he wanted to hear more, she said. Nursing home association representatives have asked ADAPT members to meet with them. But what the activists really want is a national policy giving the disabled a choice, said Mark Johnson of Atlanta. Johnson said the nursing home industry doesn't want to allow the disabled to live at home, because it would lose out on the Medicaid money they receive. Wednesday night's news conference had to be moved from the front of the Orange County Convention and Civic Center to a room in the Clarion Plaza Hotel because police threatened to arrest them, one of the organizers said. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Doug Sarubbi denied that. He said an agreement reached with the judge who released the protesters from jail prohibited them from trespassing on Peabody Hotel property. Sarubbi said the Sheriff's Office was tabulating the time and money — estimated at least $100,000 —- it spent on the protest.
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Title: 73 arrests in wheelchair melee by Darryl E. Owens Orlando Sentinel Monday 10/7 [This article is continued on ADAPT 688 but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO by Tom Fitz/Sentinel: A woman (Anita Cameron) is being shoved over by a security guard or police officer, only his arm is visible. Her face shows pain and fear. She is falling into the lap of a woman in a wheelchair (Jennifer McPhail) who looks down at Anita and is being held forward by a woman and a man protester who are looking at the police. Behind Jennifer is another wheelchair user and behind them is another ADAPTer in a wheelchair and a man standing (Chicken-man Carl ______). Over the shoulders of the other two protesters more ADAPT protesters, in wheelchairs and standing, are up against other barriers but looking at what is happening to Anita. In the background the ADAPT bubble van is visible. Caption: [Unreadable][Anita]Cameron of Denver is shoved in confrontation with Peabody security force members Title: Disabled place hotel under siege by Darryl E Owens of the Sentinel Staff The battle lines were drawn early Sunday afternoon. For Wade Blank and the 210 or so members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, the plan was simple. “We're going to block the entrance to the hotel because those people block our lives," he said of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing home operators and has attracted 3,500 people to a convention this week at the Peabody Hotel. On the other side, hotel security and about 130 Orange County deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers were standing by to stop any protesters who blocked the doors with their bodies or their wheelchairs. “The main goal is to assist and help these people in a professional and sensitive manner," said sheriffs spokesman Cpl. Doug Sarubbi. “But when they break the law. we’ve got to enforce it." When the battle ended, one person had been hurt. one had suffered a heart attack and at least 73 had been arrested as ADAPT launched its four-day protest demanding fewer people be kept in nursing homes and more money be devoted to caring for the disabled at home. It was a battle authorities had mapped out extensively, making sure officials and facilities could accommodate the 'protesters' disabilities, said Sarubbi and Ed Royal, the Orange County Jail's assistant corrections director of programming. The costs of the special provisions had not been added up late Sunday, Sarubbi said. “This wasn't supposed to be the big day" of the protest, Sarubbi said. “We expect it every day and are prepared for whatever happens." More arrests were expected late Sunday, Sanibbi said. Each protester was charged with trespassing, taken to the Orange County Jail and held on $1,000 bail. A woman apparently was cut on the head when a table or bicycle lock fell on her while she tried to break through a barricade at the north entrance of the hotel. Pat Hasley, a top Peabody security specialist, suffered a heart attack outside the hotel and was taken to SandLake Hospital. His condition was unknown late Sunday. In demonstrations across the country, ADAPT has blocked meetings, disrupted speeches and shut down offices. “We chose to shut down the able-bodied system that suppresses us," ADAPT co-founder Blank said. "If they choose to arrest us, so be it." Denver-based ADAPT wants Medicaid to redirect 25 percent of its $23 billion nursing home budget to home care for the disabled. The group also wants 45 minutes on the convention agenda to make its position known. “We‘re not trying to change the world," said Toni Funderburk, who calls herself a nursing home survivor. “We're just trying to live in it." Linda Keegan, a vice president for the nursing home association, said the group could better spend its time at the bargaining table rather than barricading buildings. “I think it would make a bigger difference if they sit down with us and come to a compromise. "It's not our money to give," she said. “The real issue is an issue of choice. There needs to be choice on both sides. The only approach that makes sense is to sit down and form a compromise that makes sense for all." Sunday's showdown began at 12:35 p.m. as protesters filed out of the Clarion Plaza Hotel, across the street from the Peabody, with a phone number to a group lawyer scrawled on their arms, shouting "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Nursing homes have got to go!" Others carried signs with such slogans as "End apartheid Destroy nursing homes" as others waved a modified U.S. flag with the stars forming the universal handicapped symbol. As the first protesters reached the Peabody parking lot, deputies confronted them. The protesters climbed out of their wheelchairs, crawled on the ground and tried to scoot past and through the legs of deputies in a race for the hotel doors. “Get to that damn door," barked Bob Kafka, a Texas ADAPT organizer. “Go! Go! Go!" Security scrambled to block the protesters, but ADAPT members managed to create a logjam at the entrance with their bodies or wheelchairs. “It's inconvenient," Peabody general manager Michael French said of the protest. “We respect their right to protest, but they must respect our right to operate a business." After the protesters refused security workers' request to leave, several school buses arrived, specially equipped for the disabled. Authorities brought in a moving van for non-disabled protesters. “We tried civil means and they just give us a cookie, pat us on the back and say, ‘Go away,'" Funderburk said. Deputies carried crawling protesters and ushered wheelchair users into the vehicles. The display drew looks of disbelief from some hotel guests and empathy from others. “It's awful," said Elma Oeters, visiting from Europe. Jacqueline Krygsman of Holland called the situation ridiculous, saying her country has a national health care policy. “They should have things at home." Police shuttled prisoners across the street to a makeshift booking office at the Orange County Convention and Civic Center before taking them to jail. Royal said open bay cells normally reserved for juveniles, psychotic inmates and those with other special needs were used for the protesters in wheelchairs. Guards were on duty in the bays. The open bays, which normally hold about 60 people, contained between six and 10 handicapped people, depending on their needs. Four nurses were added to the normal staff of five, he said. "The corrections staff underwent special training to understand the needs of handicapped individuals," Royal said. Other special provisions made by the jail included obtaining hand-held commodes and arrangements for the care of any guide dogs accompanying blind protesters. Those arrested will have to go through the normal process to be released. “Those who are able to bond will be allowed to bond," Royal said. “Those who are not able to bond will have to go to first appearance before a judge in the morning." Most protesters, after being informed of the $1,000 bond, said they could not afford to pay and would remain in jail, Blank said. "I guess Orlando wants to prove a point," he said. “We didn't travel 1,900 miles to haul it in after one day. It's not like it‘s anything new. Nursing homes or jail. We know what being incarcerated is all about." Mary Brooks of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
ADAPT (675)
New York Times, National, Monday October 7, 1991 PHOTO by Phelan M Ebenack for the New York Times: A mass of people in wheelchairs and standing work to get through police barricades and tables set sideways as barricades. In the center top Carolyn Long looks down at a protester. To her left two standing men struggle over a barrier. To her right and in front, on the far right a woman stands in an ADAPT shirt, and beside her a woman in white shorts (Babs Johnson) stands behind an older man in a scooter (Ben?) A second scooter is just visible behind him. In front of them in the center of the picture a woman with some of her hair missing (Karen Greebon) is making a power fist in her electric wheelchair. In the foreground three people in wheelchairs struggle with a table barricade; Doug Chastain is in the middle, the other two are looking away from the camera. The caption reads: Advocates for the Disabled Protest At Nursing Home Convention. More than 300 advocates for the disabled yesterday stormed a hotel in Orlando, Fla., where representatives of the nursing home industry were holding a convention. Some wheelchair-bound demonstrators tried to break through barricades; 50 were arrested on charges of trespassing. The protest was part of a campaign to redirect Federal money toward in-home care and away from nursing homes.
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Title: Deputies prepare for protesters by Christopher Quinn of the Sentinel Staff [This articles continues on 687 but the entire text of the article is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO [AP file photo]: A guy in an ADAPT T-shirt sits on the sidewalk in front of a set of glass doors. His knees are bent but together and his feet are out to each side. His mouth is slightly open and he is wearing a hat. Behind him, through the glass a group of security men are standing holding the door handles and conferring. Caption: A disabled activist sits outside a casino in Sparks, Nev., in an '89 protest. Orange deputies are studying videos of the event. Title: Disabled activists plan to disrupt a convention of nursing home operators. In city after city since 1983, wheelchair-riding activists have climbed from their chairs, dragged themselves along the ground, halted traffic and chained themselves to buildings. On Sunday they’re coming to Orlando. They intend to be arrested, and the Orange County Sheriffs Office plans to accommodate them. Deputies have spent the past month gathering information on how to handle the protesters. "This isn't a win situation. No one wants to arrest paraplegics,” Sheriff Walt Gallagher said Thursday. “But I have to enforce the law.” The activists are members of ADAPT (Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) and they plan to disrupt a convention of nursing home operators. The members believe the federal government spends too much money on nursing homes and too little helping the disabled live at home. The protest is aimed at the American Health Care Association, which is holding its annual meeting Sunday through Thursday at the Orange County Convention and Civic Center. “We want to make life miserable for them," said Mike Auberger, a quadriplegic who cofounded the group and now fights nursing homes. Auberger said the group will try not to inconvenience anyone but convention delegates. He said the convention is a prime target for his group because it is the only place so many nursing home operators gather. The protesters want 25 percent of the federal money spent on nursing homes shifted to home care for the disabled. Law enforcement officials who have dealt with the protesters in other cities say the group's main goal is favorable television coverage. “They'd like nothing better than to have the local media take a picture of three or four big cops taking a guy to the ground.” said Bob Cowman, a lieutenant for the Sparks, Nev., police. Members of the group descended on Sparks, a city near Reno, in 1989. They were stymied, however, when police methodically stopped the activists from disrupting a convention. Sparks officers gently arrested anyone who broke the law. When members threw themselves to the ground and crawled across streets, hoping to be picked up and hauled off to jail, police just watched, frustrating the protesters. The Sparks methods for dealing with the group’s tactics have become the standard other agencies emulate. Orange deputies have spent hours watching videotapes of the Sparks protest. The tapes show legless protesters throwing themselves out of their wheelchairs and walking on their hands across streets. “Members have been known to throw their colostomy bags at the Police,” says a Sparks report on the protest. Auberger said that’s just not true. The Sparks convention and protest were smaller than what is expected in Orange County. The Sparks convention involved 500 delegates and around 100 protesters. The convention here will involve more than 3,000 delegates and more than 300 protesters. “We’re as prepared as we’re going to be,” said Sgt. Jon Swanson, head of sheriffs intelligence. Today a wheelchair-bound consultant will teach deputies how to arrest the disabled without hurting them or damaging the wheelchairs. Starting Sunday a riot squad will be at the convention center 24 hours a day. If the disabled protesters attempt to block traffic or center entrances, 120 deputies will be on hand to make arrests. The county will have to pay as much as $200,000 in overtime. “One hundred and twenty cops isn't going to do it," Auberger said. “That's not enough per person." The cost is in addition to whatever Orange jail chief Tom Allison spends housing arrested activists and tending to their medical needs. Allison said he’s ready to handle hundreds of prisoners in wheelchairs. Swanson and Allison said they hope any activists who get arrested stay in jail a few days. Bonds will be set at $500 for the misdemeanor charges the protesters usually face. Because the activists are from out of state, bail bond agents will be unlikely to help, said John Von Achen, president of the Tri-County Bonding Association. When members have been arrested and freed without bond in other cities, they have immediately returned to the protests to be arrested again. “We don't want to get into a scenario where we arrest them, release them, arrest them, release them, arrest them, release them,” Allison said. Auberger said there is another way: “Not to arrest any of us.” The headquarters hotel for the convention is the Peabody Orlando, across from the convention center, but some delegates are staying up the street at the Clarion Plaza Hotel. The protesters have reserved 90 rooms at the Clarion. The convention schedule calls for delegates to be in seminars at the convention center or in training at Walt Disney World on Sunday and Monday. Auberger said his group might stage a protest at Disney. On Tuesday morning, however, Red Cross president Elizabeth Dole will address the convention. Television weatherman Willard Scott will speak Wednesday. Swanson said the protesters might save their big protest for the speeches. Cowman, the Sparks lieutenant, said Orange deputies just need to expect the worst. “Some of them are basically professional protesters,” he said of the group’s members. But they are severely disabled, and Sparks officers repeatedly offered to help the activists. “You can’t help but feel sorry for these people," Cowman said.