Ebenezer Pastor, Ministers Protest Health Care at U.S. Capitol

ATLANTA, GA -- A coalition made up of about 10 ministers, including ones from Atlanta, were arrested Tuesday afternoon inside the Russell Rotunda on Capitol Hill after protesting the Republican health care bill. The clergy members, including the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, were singing and praying demanding fair health care for all Americans.

The show of force and faith was part of a larger movement by religion-based groups and organizations over the last few months to voice their displeasure at the GOP's dogged effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Atlanta Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Warnock and the other pastors were charged with crowding, obstruction. "As a pastor, I believe that the national budget is not just a fiscal document, but a moral document. It reflects what we believe and who we are for one another. And if this mean spirited budget were an EKG, it would indicate that America has a heart condition," he said.

The protest came the same day that President Donald Trump tweeted that he just may let millions of Americans go without health insurance. "As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!"

The controversial tweet immediately set off condemnations and cries of hypocrisy.

Read more: Trump says, 'Let Obamacare fail'

Leading Republicans are now gathering support to purely repeal Obamacare after two senators announced Monday night that they could not support the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the working name of the Senate's replacement bill.

Images via Rev. Steven Martin National Coalition of Churches