23 arrested in effort to stop clinic closing

Chicago, IL – The Mental Health Movement is fighting Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plans to close six clinics this month. On April 12, at 4:00 p.m., 30 people chained the doors shut and erected barricades. Over 100 unionized nurses and community members, including patients and members of Occupy Chicago, formed lines in front of the doors. “Health care is a right!” chanted the crowd.

After 1:00 in the morning of April 13, Chicago police cut the chains that the patients used to lock the doors and then started arresting people.

Mayor Emanuel is closing these clinics, depriving poor people of much needed care, while giving tax breaks to wealthy businesses like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The city is also spending as much as $65 million to host the war makers of NATO in May. The Mental Health Movement will be part of the march against NATO on May 20, to demand money for health care, not war.

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