ARRESTS of Single Payer Health Care Advocates in Pelosi's SF Office

A dozen people refused to leave Nancy Pelosi's SF office today, saying they would remain in the office, risking arrest, until Pelosi explained why she has turned her back on two key promises related to healthcare--the Kucinich ERISA Amendment and HR 676.

Several single payer health care reform groups and CSEA (California School Employees' Association) were represented both inside and in front of Pelosi's office. CSEA's North Bay Field Director Keith Pace and Senior Health Policy Advisor Cindy Young, Chair of Health Care for All-California Dan Hodges, and CARA (California Alliance of Retired Americans) Executive Director Jodi Reid were among those who engaged in the sit-in inside Pelosi's office.

CSEA said in a statement that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke her promise to include the Kucinich amendment to the healthcare bill, as well as to allow a vote on HR 676, the single-payer healthcare bill. "We deserve to know why she has turned her back on working people nationwide," they said in an email to their distribution list. Together with other single payer health care plan advocates they called this junction in time a critical moment deserving of action including civil disobedience where called for.

Of fifteen people who sat in Pelosi's office, most for upwards of 3 hours, twelve were arrested. Outside the building demonstrators in support chanted loudly. Those inside lifted their cell phones to hear the supporters on the outside, and joined in the chants.

Jodie Reid reported that Dan Bernal, Pelosi's District Director, whom the San Francisco Chronicle has called "the political fixer for all San Francisco matters", did NOT fix things this time. He refused to put Speaker Pelosi (who was in DC) on the phone with the demonstrators in her SF office. Bernal was reportedly agitated when those sitting in chanted, calling them "trouble makers without an appointment".

Outside the building chants were loud, police presence was heavy, and street theater kept the group of about 100 enthusiastic.

At about 2:30pm police arrested the twelve people who refused to leave Pelosi's office for creating a disturbance on federal property
nearly three hours after they first entered the Federal Building. They were cited, released and ordered to appear before a
federal judge at a later date. Arrests were made by the Federal Protection Service a branch of US Homeland Security. No arrests were made at the demonstration in front of the building.