California Highway Patrol officers cited fifteen protesters, most of them in wheelchairs, for blocking the hallway outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Capitol office Tuesday in protest of proposed cuts to health and social service programs.
The demonstrators were cited for trespassing and failure to disperse after they refused to leave when the building closed about 6:45 p.m. They were allowed to leave the Capitol without being taken to jail.
The protest, called People's Day of Reckoning, began about 1 p.m. Organizers said the event drew about 120 people at its height, but had dwindled to about 30 people before the arrests were made.
California Highway Patrol Capt. Bob Ghiglieri said the demonstration was peaceful, public safety was not endangered.
The protest was organized by a coalition that included various Independent Living Centers, disability-rights groups, health-care advocates, in-home support service providers, and the state council of Service Employees International Union, which represents health care workers. Bail for those arrested will be paid by SEIU, Local 6434, said organizer Evan LeVang.
"Without this service," I'd be in a nursing home or an institution," Nick Feldman, a wheelchair-bound, 33-year-old Berkeley resident said of in-home support services for frail Californians that are targeted for budget cuts.
Some demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as "No More Cuts" and "Tax Big Oil." Nearly 20 of the protesters parked their wheelchairs in a giant semicircle to help block the first-floor hallway.
The protesters' wrath was aimed largely at Schwarzenegger, who has opposed increasing taxes and has proposed deeper cuts to the state's safety net than Democrats have supported thus far.
The governor's office offered to meet with representatives of the group, but organizers demanded to speak to the governor.
"We've become accustomed to organized protests for tax increases, which is exactly what this is," said Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's spokesman. "The governor understands how difficult these cuts are, but he simply will not accept a further increase in taxes."
Several Democratic legislators addressed the protesters, including Sen. Gil Cedillo, Los Angeles; and Assembly members Noreen Evans, Santa Rosa; John Perez, Los Angeles; Nancy Skinner, Berkeley; Manuel Perez, Coachella; and Jim Beall, San Jose.
"God be with you," Skinner told the group.
"Continue fighting the good fight - and know that you have friends in the state Legislature," Manuel Perez added.
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