At a little after twelve noon today Dr. Matt Hendrickson; an emergency room physician and six other protesters were arrested for trespassing and blocking the entrance to the CIGNA offices in Glendale, California. The action was part of a nationwide effort being made by Mobilize For Healthcare, who's advocates want a single payer medicare plan for everyone, with no denials to anyone.

For more about http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org/

The cities where other nonviolent actions were taken were,

Newark, NJ - 7
Columbus, OH - 0
San Francisco - 0
Rochester - 4
Los Angeles - 7
New York - 9
Virginia Beach - 1
Warwick, RI - 0
Sunrise, FL - 2
Seattle - 7

Thirty seven people were arrested in all. Seventy three people actually sat in nationally, but due to various police tactics in San Francisco, Columbus and Warwick 40 were not incarcerated, including Robert Darling who has been refused a bone marrow transplant to treat his cancer.

Robert Darling's story ....http://www.projo.com/video/?nvid=410234


Grigor Sarkisyan,the father of Nataline Sarkisyan appeared at the Glendale CIGNA offices and was told to leave or he would be arrested as well. He is a Mercedes technician and still carries his insurance through CIGNA. He produced his card and asked to see a CIGNA representative whereupon he was refused.
For the story on Nataline Sarkisyan please see ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataline_Sarkisyan

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/231269.php

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/231847.php

The police presence in Glendale was large with at least two policemen for each protester and at this time all of the protesters have been released.

Mobilization for Health Care is staging five more national actions at this point.

Oct 29th,

Oct 30th,

Nov 2nd,

Nov 3rd,

Nov 4th,


To get involved in Los Angeles or nationally here is the contact list.

Upcoming Actions For Mobilize For Healthcare
Upcoming Sit-ins:

October 29th:

Baltimore, MD
When: 12:00PM
Contact: Kevin Zeese, kzeese@earthlink.net
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-baltimore.ning.com

Louisville, KY
When: 10:00AM
Contact: Kay Tillow, nursenpo@aol.com, 917-621-7268
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-kentucky.ning.com/

October 30th:

Philadelphia, PA
When: Noon
Contact: Jeff Muckensturm, 267-515-2400, jeff@healthcare-now.org
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-pa.ning.com/

November 3rd:

San Diego, CA
When: 10:00AM
Contact: Jerry Malamud, aabs@aol.com
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-sandiego.ning.com/

November 4th:

Albuquerque, NM
When: 10:30AM
Contact: Guy Watson, drguy0@gmail.com
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-abq.ning.com/

Atlanta, GA
When: 10:00AM
Contact: Denise Woodall, denisewoodallksu@yahoo.com
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-atlanta.ning.com/

Detroit, MI
When: 12:00pm
Contact: Precious Daniels, vincious1@hotmail.com; 313-361-4318
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-detroit.ning.com

Portland, OR
When: TBA
Contact: Jim Ferner, vjday153@hotmail.com
Link: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-oregon.ning.com