Dozens of people were arrested Thursday during nationwide sit-ins in front of the offices of health insurance companies. In New York, fourteen people were arrested during a sit-in at the offices of UnitedHealth Group. In Los Angeles, twelve people were arrested outside the offices of Blue Cross. Arrests also occurred in Portland, Oregon and Palm Beach, Florida. The actions were organized by Mobilization for Health Care for All. Protester Sarah Durand spoke in New York.

Sarah Durand: “I’m here because I feel we need some counterweight to all the lobbyist monies coming from the insurance companies and other healthcare industries. This is a civil rights issue of our era, and as we saw before, civil disobedience was necessary in the past to achieve goals.”