WASHINGTON — At least 20 disabled activists, most of them in wheelchairs, were arrested outside Sen. John McCain’s offices Tuesday after being refused a meeting with the GOP presidential nominee-to-be over a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to more people who want in-home care.
“If he should be president, it would be ironic that he comes from a party that talks a lot about family values,” said Bob Kafka, national organizer for ADAPT, a group advocating for passage of the bill. Without the legislation, many disabled and elderly people don’t have the choice to apply coverage to anything other than institutional care, he said.
McCain was not in his office during the protest. He was campaigning Tuesday in Florida on his health care plan.
Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said about 20 people from the group were arrested outside McCain’s office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Tuesday and charged with unlawful assembly. McCain’s Senate chief of staff said the protesters turned down an offer to meet immediately with McCain’s aides.
