Hundreds of pro-health care reform advocates gathered at Dupont Circle in Washington, DC Tuesday morning to protest deadlock on the current state of the bill on Capitol Hill.
Howard Dean, the former Governor of Vermont and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, told the crowd, “We deserve a vote! Are you for the insurance companies or are you for the American people?”
The protesters are now marching to the Dupont Ritz-Carlton where they plan to “surround and blockade the hotel, go inside and arrest lobbyists for their crimes against healthcare.” An association of health insurance companies, America’s Health Insurance Plans, is meeting for a conference at the hotel.
Streets have been closed and police presence is heavy.
Police are blocking the crowd, which is now over a thousand strong, from entering the Ritz-Carlton premises.
So far there have been no arrests or physical confrontations with the police, but the crowd has been chanting and playing drums.