More LICH Arrests in Brooklyn: Congresswoman Velázquez, District Leader Simon and others put in cuffs
Form human chain across Atlantic Avenue
In what has become a rite of passage in Brooklyn, more elected representatives and community leaders were arrested on Monday while protesting the closure of Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill.
At noon, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, her coordinator Dan Wiley, District Leader Jo Anne Simon, and five other LICH advocates committed civil disobedience by creating a human chain across Atlantic Avenue, blocking traffic.
After they were handcuffed and brought to the 76th Precinct, a large group of LICH supporters gathered behind barricades there as a “welcoming committee.” Shortly before 2 p.m., Velázquez, Simon and others emerged triumphantly, fist in air, to the cheers of supporters.
“I was willing to be arrested because my community needs LICH. I have no regrets,” Velázquez said in a statement via Twitter.