2 Women Arrested at Houston CIGNA Released From Jail! But Your Action Is Still Needed!

UPDATE: Women released from jail! Update on CIGNA protest arrestees. Click "Read more" below, then this Update link.
Below the update Bill Crosier of the Progressive Action Alliance provided some single payer links.

From Houston Code Pink regarding two women arrested Wednesday at Cigna offices while protesting. Below this action call is an eyewitness report from Bill Crosier of the Progressive Action Alliance.

Subject: Help us get Cigna protest arrestees out of jail

Here's what I've learned, and what we need you to do TODAY, about the two women, our friends, who were arrested in front of CIGNA's Houston headquarters because they would not leave before getting to speak with CIGNA executives:

Action:

Call the Houston mayor's office, your city council person, and the police chief's office TODAY (phone numbers below) and:
1. Say you are calling about the two women arrested outside the CIGNA office building on Tuesday.
2. Tell them they were improperly arrested by the police department on a bogus trespassing charge during a peaceful, non-violent demonstration.
3. The women are declining to give their names, so don't say their names if you know them. Please respect their right to remain anonymous. They should not have to give the police or a judge their names so they can tell the CIGNA execs their concerns. They are being held as "Jane Doe" and "Janet Doe."
4. The women went before a judge this morning, who increased their bail to $50,000 each (!) and transferred them to the Harris Co jail. I don't think they had an attorney with them then.
5. MOST IMPORTANT -- Ask that these two women be released immediately. They were not doing anything illegal, they were not blocking the building entrance, there were no signs posted prohibiting trespassing. All they were doing was sitting outside the building with signs, waiting to talk with CIGNA execs about their concerns.
6. You'll probably be told that the major's office or Houston police cannot do anything about the situation, and maybe to call someone else. Don't accept that excuse. The police work under the Mayor, and they should not have arrested these women in the first place. The city is liable for illegal or improper actions of its police. The police should not be doing the dirty work for a health insurance company that finds protest inconvenient for them. Remind whoever you speak with that the police should be out protecting us from criminals, not keeping citizens from expressing their concerns to a huge corporation that's making people die by denying them health care.
7. Make sure you tell whoever you call that you want them to be responsible for doing something about this, and ask when they'll get back with you.
8. Write a short e-mail to the mayor at mayor@cityofhouston.net and, if you live in Houston, cc your city council member - see the list here.

Phone Numbers to call:

1. Houston Mayor's office: 832-393-0955
2. Houston Police Chief: 713-308-1600
3. City Council: See http://www.houstontx.gov/council/index.html for names, phone, e-mail.
4. Houston Chronicle: 713-362-7171

More details follow, and info about the protest and arrests are in the earlier e-mail, below.

Status update:

They are still declining to give their names because they feel they should not be required to do so just so they could peacefully and non-violently speak with the executives of a health insurance company that want to rip us off while denying medical coverage to people who need it.

They went before a judge his morning, who increased the charges to a class B misdemeanor and increased their bail (presumably because they would not give their names -- how's that for being a threat to society) from $7,500 each to $50,000 each, and transferred them to the Harris Co. Jail, 1201 Commerce St., in downtown Houston.

They are being held as:

• Jane Doe, SPN 2461785
• Janet Doe, SPN 2461784

Both have case number: 167841710

Status info is here. Click on their names for details.

There's an article and more photos of the demonstration and arrests on Houston Indymedia (click on comments links at bottom for photos) and here.

Ron Reynolds also had a story about the demonstration and arrests on the KPFT local news today -- if you missed it, you can listen to the KPFT archives here.

Eyewitness Report from Bill Crosier of the Progressive Action Alliance

On Tuesday, the two women were arrested by Houston police outside the Cigna headquarters on Post Oak Blvd. They were part of a protest calling for CIGNA and other insurance companies to stop denying coverage to people while making record profits. I was there and I saw the whole thing, including the circus of the Houston Police department who apparently had nothing else to do that day than to pick on two women doing nothing wrong other than possibly causing some minor inconvenience to CIGNA.

After at least six (!!!) police cars arrived to take care of these two peaceful women sitting in front of the building, they were arrested and taken away. An attorney told me the police probably acted improperly and illegally because there were no signs posted that prohibited trespassing, and they were peaceful and completely non-violent.

All this has left me wondering: Have the police gone mad? I thought they had criminals they were supposed to protect us from. Apparently they'd rather protect health insurance executives from talking with people upset about the grief they have caused while making such obscene profits. I think the inconvenience of causing thousands of deaths each year because people could not get the health care they need might be more important.

Please help us get these women released immediately, and initiate an investigation into improper actions of the Houston Police Department.

They have declined to give their names, as is their right, and are being held under the names Jane Doe and Janet Doe, original case number 167841709 and 167841710, new case number 164244101010.

In solidarity and peace,

Bill Crosier
713-641-4941
Progressive Action Alliance
KPFT - Radio for Peace - 90.1 FM Houston

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From: Bill Crosier
Update on CIGNA protest arrestees

Thanks to all of you who made phone calls and sent e-mails to help our friends Nancy Hentschel and Pamela Kletke who were arrested for not letting CIGNA push them around on Tuesday, and thanks for helping to get attention to the mess perpetuated by CIGNA and other so-called health insurance companies.

Our two brave friends were released early this morning and are back home. I want to send a special big THANK YOU to Nancy and Pamela for standing up to CIGNA and for helping to get more attention to our health care crisis.

Thanks to your calls and e-mails, the mayor's office and several city council members are now also aware of our concerns about how police resources were misused on Tuesday. Keep those calls and e-mails coming. Even though the police (from what I saw Tuesday) were polite, I resent having my tax dollars to pay for at least 6 police cars and at least 9 police officers (that I counted outside of their cars) tied up for over an hour there, plus taking them to jail for something they should have probably just ignored. And why is HPD picking on non-violent peaceful demonstrators who just wanted to wait for CIGNA executives to come out of the building, instead of arresting the CIGNA execs for bait and switch tactics -- promising health care and then denying coverage? I thought that HPD needed more resources to fight real crime, but Tuesday indicated they have too many police available. Did they have no other crime in Houston on Tuesday?

Perhaps even more important, thanks also to your calls and e-mails, the Houston Chronicle is interested. Keep your (short) e-mails coming to their Viewpoints (letters to the editor) e-mail address.

I got a call from Moises Mendoza of the Chronicle this morning, because of all of our calls and e-mails to them. His editor wants him to do a story on this. Keep those notes coming.

To contact the Houston Chronicle, e-mail either or both of these:

• viewpoints@chron.com (letters to the editor -- keep them brief and supply your name, phone, and snail mail address (they won't print your phone or address)
• Moises Mendoza is the Houston Chronicle reporter doing the story on these arrests.

You may want to stress:

• misuse of police forces on Tuesday
• ridiculous bond requirements ($50,000 each) for non-violent demonstrators
• how any so-called health reform less than single payer/Medicare for All will just increase the profits of health insurance companies while allowing them to ration care and increase our costs
• health insurance is not health care, and often insurance works to deny you health care you need

I'm sorry -- several of you have asked the judge's name who set the $50,000 bail for each woman, and I have not been able to get that yet, but I'll keep working on it. He'll probably be up for re-election next year and I want to know who it is, too.

I'm also sorry I have not been able to answer some other questions, as I was not involved in planning the demonstration on Tuesday so don't know much about the strategies for it. I just showed up and helped publicize it, and told Nancy I'd do what I could to help if there were arrests.

For more background info/talking points on health care reform, see http://www.healthcareforalltexas.org and refer other people there, too.

After Nancy and Pamela get a chance to rest up from their ordeal, I hope to send you a more complete update, or perhaps they will.

thanks--
Bill

--

Bill Crosier
713-641-4941
Progressive Action Alliance
KPFT - Radio for Peace - 90.1 FM Houston

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Single Payer Links:

• Mobilize for Health Care
• Health Care for All Texas
• Baltimore Four Arrested - Health Care for All
• Pass Medicare for All, or Pass Nothing