Three people were arrested in Harrisburg today, after state capitol police denied elevator access to protestors in wheelchairs. Police said they blocked access for fire hazard, security, and work productivity concerns.
 
Wheelchair users, several from the Erie area, were frustrated that they were denied access to the third floor— where the Governor’s office is— but able bodied protestors were not blocked from using the stairs.
 
The three people arrested were released from custody tonight.
 
Earlier in the afternoon, around 80 advocates for home care staged a peaceful protest in the capitol.
 
Home care is one of the issues addressed in Pennsylvania's state budget. Pennsylvanians with physical disabilities can have someone come to their home to take care of them. The state reimbursement rates for home care have not significantly increased in years, which has lead to low pay for workers— which leads to other issues in the industry.
 
"Pennsylvania has been good at historically fragmenting our system and looking at us like we're a diagnosis. And not as a person,” said Shona Eakin, the CEO for Voices of Independence. The organization is a home care agency that also works in advocacy for western Pennsylvania. Eakin lives in Erie.
 
When state capitol police asked the protestors to disperse, they complied. 
 
After that initial protest, around 30 advocates went towards the Governor's office, which is on the third floor. They wanted to protest outside the office, as well as drop off letters.
 
"We collected stories of people that couldn't come here today. We wanted to hand it to the governor. We wanted to ask him to expand the funding for all of home care,” Eakin said. "And when we sent two people up in the elevator that were in wheelchairs, then they shut the elevator down and wouldn't let the rest of us go up."
 
Roughly 10-15 protestors were in wheelchairs. However, able-bodied protesters were still able to go up the stairs. Some of those able-bodied protesters came down the elevator to try and bring Eakin up, so she could drop off the letters.
 
Capitol police denied Eakin access to the elevator. Some of the protesters in the elevator chose to stay in the elevator; until there was an altercation with the Capitol police and three people were detained.
 
"Police said we couldn't be up there, because we are a fire hazard,” Eakin said. "And never in all of my years of advocacy, have we been detained from using these elevators to go up and drop something off at the governor’s office."
 
Capitol police said the fire hazard comes when multiple wheelchair users are on higher levels; if an emergency happens, those people could not be rescued in a reasonable time.
 
Police also said they were concerned about the area getting too congested and they didn't want to be too disruptive for people working in that part of the Capitol.
 
“It was frustrating to be in a wheelchair, and be blocked from going where I wanted to go,” said Kelly Barrett, Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania for 2025. Barrett is also an Erie resident. “I couldn’t go up, but I could turn around and see the stairs were wide open and no one was being stopped from using those."
 
At this time, the three individuals have been released. Erie News Now will continue to update this story as we learn about the charges brought against the three protestors.