(Reuters) - Actor Noah Wyle was arrested at a healthcare protest in Washington, D.C. on Monday, following in the footsteps of his former "ER" co-star George Clooney, who also taken into police custody at a recent political rally.

Wyle, 40, best known for his roles in television dramas "ER" and "Falling Skies," took part in a protest with grassroots organization ADAPT seeking to stop cuts in funding for Medicaid that would affect medical services for the elderly.

"Today, I took part in an effort by Adapt to bring attention to the Medicaid cuts that have been made by many States and are threatened to be made on a Federal level ... This issue is about Civil Rights not about medicine," Wyle said in a statement released through is representatives.

ADAPT is an acronym for Americans Disabled for Access to Public Transit, and the group says in a statement on its Website that it organizes activists to engage in nonviolent action that assures civil rights for people with disabilities.

Clooney and his father Nick were arrested for protesting outside the Sudan embassy in Washington last month, campaigning against Sudan blocking humanitarian aid from reaching a volatile border region.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)