Police eject 5 doctors from NOLA Convention Center, anti-Trump pamphlets

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Police removed five doctors and researchers Friday from an American Diabetes Association conference in New Orleans after they said they had handed out copies of an editorial critical of President Donald Trump.

The dustup came moments before the Trump-appointed National Institutes of Health director was set to deliver remarks to conferencegoers at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and drew national headlines in medical outlets. None of those who were removed were arrested, according to Louisiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Ross Brennan.

"Earlier today, Louisiana State Police Troopers working a security detail at the convention center during the American Diabetes Association conference were requested by event organizers to assist with removing several individuals from the event,” Brennan said in a statement Friday.

He added that troopers “assisted by escorting the individuals from the private event” and that all left peacefully.

The ADA in a written statement Friday afternoon said it asked police to escort out the conferencegoers after they “demonstrated behavior not consistent with (the conference’s) code of conduct.”

“They were respectfully given the opportunity to cease this behavior and chose not to which is why they were escorted out,” the statement says.

Several people who were removed told the medical news service MedPage Today that the incident represented politically motivated suppression of their attempt to highlight Trump’s track record on medical research.

The article they handed out, a critique of the administration’s changes to biomedical research, was published in ADA’s flagship journal this spring and was authored by one doctor removed from Friday’s event, Steven Kahn, who is also the journal’s editor-in-chief. Kahn did not immediately respond to an email.

The NIH director, Jayanta "Jay" Bhattacharya, canceled his appearance moments before it was set to start, MedPage Today reported.

The ADA’s annual conference is set to last through Monday at the Convention Center, according to the group’s website.

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