In DC yesterday, thousands of union members and health care activists from across the progressive movement took the fight for health care reform right to insurance companies' doorstep. The massive protest started with a march from Dupont Circle to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 22nd and M Street, NW, led by more than 50 major labor organizations, health care reform activists, faith leaders, and 25 survivors of health insurance abuse.
Protesters flooded the streets and surrounded the site of the insurance lobbyists' annual conference, where progressive leaders issued a peaceful citizens' arrest of the insurance companies--while the dozens of law enforcement officials tried to rein in the huge crowd. Several progressive leaders who stood up on behalf of reform were escorted away by police (including SEIU's Anna Burger and Dr. Toni L. Lewis).
It was truly a magnificent show of solidarity for reform. Watch this video footage for a taste of yesterday's huge action:
More ways you can relive the March 9th citizens' arrest of insurance companies after the jump.
Photos:
- Via SEIU's Flickr slideshow:
- More images from today's rally and march on the homepage of CitizensPosse.com.
- Videos on HCAN's YouTube page.
On Twitter:
- The hashtag we created for today's action, #m9, has been blowing up on Twitter all day. It's been Twittered over 600 times so far, and it's still going strong. Read the #m9 tweets here.
- We live tweeted today's action--check it out here.
Via media coverage & blogs:
Recap of what went down during the march on SEIU.org here.
More coverage also at Huffington Post, NY Times, Washington Post, DCist
More than 10,000 people have taken online action against insurance lobbyists on www.citizensposse.com, and sent over 2,500 faxes to the insurance companies' fax machines so far. We know not everyone could be in DC to confront insurance lobbyists yesterday, but it's not too late to do your part by spreading the message.
- Help us hold the insurance companies accountable for their crimes by sending your own fax--we'll keep it up until they shut us down.
- Reveal the true faces of insurance groups--AHIP, CIGNA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem, and WellPoint--by messaging them directly on Twitter and Facebook.
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Even though the HC reform isn't perfect....it's a start. The biggest disapointment is there's no competition. Public option would have done that. 45 thousand die annual and the number one reason for bankruptcies is medical bills. The american health care system sucks except for the medical personnal and facilities. Predicted 70 million without health care by 2015 if "real" reform isn't enacted soon. Commentor Roberts must be a right wingnut of the most extreme kind. Probably a Palin fan.