75-Year-Old Grandmother, 21-Year-Old Student Arrested During Sit-In At Governor's Office

NASHVILLE, TN — Two people, including a 75-year-old woman, were arrested during a sit-in the governor's suite of offices at the Tennessee State Capitol Tuesday. Ellen McPherson and Fisk student Justin Jones, 21, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing. Nine other people were issued misdemeanor citations.

Carrying palm leaves and placards, the group from Moral Movement Tennessee urged the governor to call a special legislative session to expand Medicaid following the collapse of a Congressional Republican effort to replace Obamacare.

Initially, the group numbered north of 20, according to The Tennessean, and chatted with a member of Gov. Bill Haslam's constituent services team after being told the governor himself was out of town. Their numbers dwindled after the confab and after state troopers told them the Capitol closed at 4:30 p.m.

But 11 remained behind.

"We’re going to wait. We’re going to be here for a while. We don’t have anywhere to go but to stay here so whatever your will is in the midst of that we come in the name of equality and equity," McKendree United Methodist Church senior pastor The Rev. Steven Handy said, according to The Tennessean. "We don’t come to disrupt for the sake of disruption."

Around 6:15 p.m., Jones was handcuffed and taken from the room, according to The Tennessean. He was attempting to convince state troopers to allow a woman — later determined to be McPherson — to remain and tried to keep her bag in the governor's office suite.

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An affidavit says McPherson "began to push against" a trooper in an effort to re-enter the room after being told to leave and was placed under arrest.

Both Jones and McPherson were released on a $1,000 bond.