Donald Trump came under fire — and rightfully so — 10 years ago when he crassly mocked a disabled New York Times reporter.
On Saturday the Donald got slapped with a bit of payback when a group of protesters dubbing themselves the Disabled Resistance invaded the glitzy lobby of Trump Tower and staged a raucous rally that went on a bit longer than usual for such affairs.
A total of around 17 disabled demonstrators entrenched themselves near the infamous golden escalator, chanting slogans like “Wadda we do when we’re under attack! We roll up! We fight back!”
The date was not random but, in fact, the 35th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act — a milestone for the disabled community that, the protesters gratefully noted, was signed into law by another Republican president, one they admire for it, George W. Bush.
But they angrily said the country’s current G.O.P. executive is aiming to roll back the hard-won gains of the A.D.A., such as through cuts to Medicaid.
Around half of the 17 protesters were in wheelchairs or scooters, which made police have to figure out a safe and accessible way to arrest those who refused to leave, in the end, around 11 of them.
While some lament that Trump seems unstoppable, the feisty disabled activists succeeded in shutting down Trump Tower, at least for a while, as police cordoned off the entire blockfront outside the gleaming edifice and rolled the gate down over its rear entrance.
In the end, an MTA bus was brought in to take away the protesters who refused police orders to leave that were repeatedly blared at them in an audio recording.
“We refuse to allow our people to be hurt by cruel cuts to vital social programs like Medicaid for the benefit of billionaires,” they said, in a statement. “We refuse to allow the laws that we fiercely and tirelessly worked to get passed to be obliterated in the senseless dismantling of the American government and American democracy.
“We are activists who have been made stronger by the experience of living with a disability in an ableist world. We are not afraid. We are ready to fight harder than we ever have fought before, and we invite all people of good conscience to join us.”
Morgan Moore, a spokesperson for the protesters, added, “We are demonstrating for fair pay. We’re demonstrating for fair pay for our homecare workers and healthcare workers that take care of people with disabilities and the, you know, the assistance that they need.
“We want to make sure that there’s money for homecare and not just shunting people into nursing homes. You know that there are so many aspects of people’s lives with disabilities that are being impacted by this administration.”
Police did not immediately confirm the number of arrests.
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