Bill Cassidy is literally yawning as protestors are carried away. pic.twitter.com/TqINKjrLx6
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) September 25, 2017
Chaos erupted in the Senate today as hearings began on the Graham-Cassidy bill which aims to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Journalist Matt Fuller caught some of the commotion on video. And the images are somewhat disturbing to watch.
Almost as soon as the gavels went down to initiate the hearings, pro-healthcare protesters with the organization ADAPT–which stands for Americans Disabled Attendant Programs Today–made their presence felt.
A chant began, “No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty!”
Senators reacted angrily, aghast and nonchalant as police swooped down on the chanting demonstrators. At first the Capitol cops tried to talk the red-shirted citizens into quieting, but that quickly went nowhere and the chants continued.
Police then removed protesters one-by-one. One was dragged away by their wheelchair.
Wow. pic.twitter.com/VOlQHBksPy
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) September 25, 2017
Others were only able to walk with canes but they were shoved through the hall’s of the nation’s deliberative body.
I’ve been covering health care activism from day one and this is a sight that is still hard to make sense of pic.twitter.com/gFaR6V0yHv
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) September 25, 2017
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) then recessed the committee hearings so that police could remove the remaining protesters.
But as the scene unfolded, the bill’s co-author didn’t seem to mind his political opponents being carted off for their shouted interruptions. As the final protesters were taken out by police, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sat and yawned.
[image via screengrab; videos courtesy Matt Fuller/Twitter]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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