Norwich disabilities advocate Elanah Sherman was among five people arrested Tuesday at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office in a civil disobedience protest against funding cuts to services and agencies that serve people with disabilities.

Sherman, 66, of 65 Cedar St., Norwich; Gary Gross, 67, of Unionville; Melissa Marshall, 57, of West Hartford; Molly Cole, 67, of Windsor, and Elaine M. Kolb, 57, of West Haven, each were charged with second-degree criminal trespass and were issued misdemeanor summonses to appear in Hartford Superior Court on July 26.

That's a fitting date, Sherman said Wednesday of the scheduled court appearance, as it is the 27th anniversary of the July 26, 1990, signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act by President George H.W. Bush.

The group, representing Connecticut Cross-Disability Lifespan Alliance, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, was arrested by state Capitol Police at 12:15 pm. after police received a complaint that the five protesters were refusing to leave the governor's office. News accounts described polite verbal exchanges between the protesters and police, including a plea by one woman in a wheelchair to police: “Please don't break my chair,” the Connecticut Mirror reported.

Sherman said she was not aware of any injuries during the protest and arrest.

“Our goal is to see a moral budget not created on the backs of people with disabilities and other people who need essential services,” Sherman said. “We certainly see our action in solidarity with other groups of people who are marginalized or oppressed.”

Malloy was not at the office at the time of the protest. On Monday, Malloy held a roundtable discussion on some of the same issues with HARC Inc., a Hartford-based agency that serves people with intellectual and other disabilities. Malloy sought to enlist support from advocates in his push to get the Legislature to pass at least a temporary short-term budget to avoid some of the draconian cuts included in his executive order on state funding that went into effect July 1 in the absence of a budget.

Chris McClure, a spokesman for the state Office of Policy and Management, said Wednesday that Malloy has said “many times” that the executive order on funding was not his preference. McClure said the cuts in a so-called mini-budget proposed by Malloy would have included less severe cuts to services for people with disabilities.

“Inaction was not an option for us and we needed to sharply reduce spending in many areas — including spending that we all agree is important and worthwhile,” McClure said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Funding essential services would be easier, McClure said, if the Legislature would enact a budget using the $700 million in labor concessions approved Tuesday by state labor unions.

The alliance, however, in a one-page summary of its protest positions, outlined cuts to services and programs it said are included in budget proposals by Democrats and Republicans and by Malloy. The group argued that the cuts were proposed because state leaders “have been unwilling to take the necessary step of increasing revenue to avoid these cuts,” the position paper stated.

Sherman, a longtime advocate for people with disabilities, was laid off from her job in the former state Office of Protection and Advocacy, which was abolished in June. Sherman said her former position and layoff did not influence her decision to join the alliance in the protest.

“My job did not define my life,” she said. “I don't need a paycheck to be an activist.”

Alliance protest participants received nonviolence civil disobedience training Monday led by longtime activist Joanne Sheehan of Norwich. Sheehan said Wednesday she attended the protest, but remained outside the governor's office and was not part of the demonstration.

“Not that I haven't (been arrested) many times over,” said Sheehan, who has participated in activist demonstrations for decades and has been training people for nonviolent protests since the early 1970s.

Sheehan said the civil disobedience was part of a larger protest that included about 80 people outside the Capitol building. Several people, including herself, were outside the governor's office during the protest observing the civil disobedience protest and the state officials' reaction.

“It seemed the Capitol Police did not want to arrest them,” Sheehan said.

c.bessette@theday.com