NEED TO KNOW
- Capitol Police Arrested 34 people, including multiple disabled Americans in wheelchairs, during a protest against Medicaid cuts in Trump’s budget.
- Officers cited the group for “incommoding,” which is apparently still a word and now a crime.
- The arrests happened inside a Senate office building where freedom went to die somewhere between the elevators and the coat closet.
Protesting Poverty Is Apparently Too Disruptive
Washington, DC — In what may be the most on-brand moment of 2025, Capitol Police arrested dozens of Medicaid recipients protesting a Trump budget proposal that would slash critical funding for disability support. Their crime? Demonstrating too close to power without a PAC or private jet.
The group, organized by ADAPT, staged a peaceful Protest inside the Russell Senate Office Building. Many of the demonstrators were in wheelchairs, which Capitol Police promptly rolled into custody. One protester was detained for the additional crime of “crossing a police line” with her walker. She called it a “freedom stroll.” Officers disagreed.
From Entitlements to Arrest Records
“We were demanding dignity,” said one protester, “not handcuffs.” Capitol Police, however, cited laws against “crowding, obstructing or incommoding” — a 19th-century legal term last seen in Dickens novels and now repurposed to remove disabled citizens inconveniently blocking injustice.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as “surreal,” noting that while the protesters chanted for healthcare, nearby lobbyists passed unbothered on their way to wine-funded luncheons.
Budget Cuts and Broken Promises
Trump’s budget proposes deep Medicaid cuts while boosting defense and infrastructure spending, including a new “Freedom Fountain” in Mar-a-Lago’s golf pond. Critics argue the plan redistributes wealth from wheelchairs to warheads.
The White House issued a statement claiming the arrests were proof the budget was “working as intended.”
