Noah Wyle, Former 'ER' Star, Arrested In D.C. Protest

April 23, 2012

Noah Wyle, Former 'ER'

Star, Arrested In D.C. Protest

Huffington Post, DC / April 23, 2012

WASHINGTON — Former

" ER " star Noah Wyle and about 100 members of the group ADAPT were

arrested Monday during a Capitol Hill protest to urge Congress not to cut

Medicaid.

In an interview with The Associated Press while waiting to be

processed in the basement of the Cannon

House Office

Building where the

protest took place in the rotunda, Wyle said being arrested for the first time

was " slightly surreal. "

" As soon as everybody saw me being led away, they let up a big

whooping cheer, which made me feel really good, " Wyle said.

Many of the protesters were in wheelchairs. They're the ones who would

be hurt most by any Medicaid cuts, Wyle said.

" Those cuts would reduce the hours of home health care aides

being able to come in and give basic services, which would force people to

basically give up their right to live in integrated, portable, accessible

housing and put them in an institution, " he said.

Wyle, who played young Dr. on the long-running show, said

that's a " very short-sighted economic decision because it costs up to four

times as much to have somebody in an institution than it does to have them

require some hourly assistance every day. "

Not only that, Wyle pointed out that people with disabilities would be

taken away from their families and their jobs. So, he said, it's not really a

medical issue, it's more of a civil rights issue.

Wyle had warned his ex-wife and kids, 9-year-old son Owen, and

6-year-old daughter Auden, that he might be arrested.

" I think they're really proud of the old man

right now, " he said.

It was five weeks ago that Clooney, Wyle's former " ER "

co-star, was arrested during a demonstration in front of the Sudanese Embassy

in Washington.

Wyle said he would " let focus on the international; I'll

deal with the small domestic issues. "

Wyle now plays the lead character in TNT's science fiction series,

" Falling Skies. "

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