3/14/90

Disabled demonstrators arrested at U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police arrested disabled demonstrators who chanted slogans and chained their wheelchairs together in the Capitol on Tuesday in a protest demanding quick passage of a bill guaranteeing their civil rights.

The arrests came after deliberate arts of civil disobedience by the demonstrators and a confrontation in the Capitol's cavernous Rotunda with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and Minority Leader Robert H. Michel.

Some 75 protesters were arrested, many of them in their wheelchairs. Removing the demonstrators and loading them into vans look police about two hours. Those who could walk were handcuffed, and some in wheelchairs were strapped into their seats by police.

Those arrested were charged with two misdemeanors, unlawful entry and demonstrating within the Capitol, said police spokesman GT Nevitt. Both carry maximum sentences of six months in jail.

In addition, those convicted could be fined $100 for unlawful entry and $500 for demonstrating in the Capitol.

The arrests marked the second day of dramatic lobbying by people with disabilities, who are seeking passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Monday, some 60 people crawled out of their wheelchairs and up the West steps of the Capitol to underline their demands.

PHOTO (The Associated Press): Three people in wheelchairs sit smiling at one another amid the crowd at the plaza at the bottom of the steps on the West front of the Capitol. Behind them the ADAPT flag flies, with it's wheelchair symbol made out of stars and the stripes like the American flag. Behind the flag is the dome of the Capitol against the sky.

Caption: A group of handicapped people gather outside of the U.S. Capitol to draw support for a bill pending in the House that would extend civil rights to disabled persons.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Friday 3 July 2015

Tags

ADA, ADAPT flag, arrest, disabled people, House Minority Leader Bob Michel, House Speaker Tom Foley, Nevitt, police spokesman, Rotunda, US Capitol, wheelchairs

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