Protesters Released 1 Day After Arrests At Sen. Gardner's Office
DENVER (CBS4)- The protesters arrested Thursday night in the Denver office of Republican Sen. Cory Gardner were finally released early Saturday morning.
Nine were being held on charges including trespassing and interference with a police officer.
The protesters were taken into custody Thursday evening after three days of protesting inside Gardner's office.
"Rather go to jail than to die without Medicaid," they chanted during hour 60 of the protest.
It was an effort to get the Republican Senator to vote against his own party's health care bill.
Denver police say the senator's office asked for the protesters to be removed. After repeated warnings given at intervals, they were arrested.
The last protester was released from the jail at 2:10 a.m. Saturday. The Denver Sheriffs Department says there were dozens of people awaiting processing when the protesters were taken to the jail and they "Deputies and medical staff worked at all levels to ensure everyone's safety while maintaining the integrity of the process."
A spokesman for the senator told CBS4 that they did not call for the police, but had to sign a statement to have them removed or that they would be in violation of their building lease.
Many of those taken into custody were from the Adapt disabled community.
Several gathered for a vigil outside the jail while they waited for others to be released on Friday night.