MONTGOMERY — Police arrested seven people — including the wife of state Sen. Hank Sanders — at the Alabama Capitol after the group refused to leave during a protest over an expansion of Medicaid in the state.

Anna Morris of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said police made numerous requests for the group to leave when the building closed at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The arrests followed days of protests at the Capitol.

The seven were taken to the Montgomery County jail on charges of criminal trespassing. They included civil rights activists Kenneth Glasgow of Dothan and Faya Rose Toure, the wife of state Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma.

Sanders says the refusal to leave the Capitol was a peaceful demonstration over Gov. Robert Bentley’s refusal to expand Medicaid in Alabama.

Bentley calls Medicaid a broken system.