6 Moms for Liberty protesters arrested on final day of the group’s Philly summit

Five Moms for Liberty protesters were arrested Sunday morning for blocking traffic outside the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, and a sixth for waving a flag over a barricade set up outside the hotel, according to activists.

Philadelphia police said the six people were arrested on charges of failure to disperse, but did not provide further details. ACT UP Philadelphia, the AIDS activism group, provided photographs of five people, who were holding hands while standing in the middle of the intersection at 12th and Filbert Streets.

“They were chanting for Moms for Liberty to go home and blocking traffic,” said Aaron Bodiford, an activist with the group. He said police gave the activists three warnings before making the arrests, pulling their vans up in front of the barricades where the rest of the protesters were stationed.

Later Sunday, Bodiford said a trans woman was also arrested for waving a trans flag over the barricade set up around the Marriott. A video posted to Twitter showed the activist on the Marriott’s property.

The arrests came on the fourth and final day of the summit for the controversial “parental rights” group, which targets LGBTQ issues and diversity education and has drawn protests since its arrival in Philadelphia Thursday. The event, attended by 650 people from across the country, featured speeches from former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among other Republican presidential contenders.

Sunday’s program included North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a GOP candidate for governor who has said “there’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth”; and KrisAnne Hall, a self-described “constitutional attorney” who has previously addressed the Oath Keepers militia group.

The summit contained a heavy focus on opposing transgender identity and gender transitioning — messages not lost on protesters, who throughout the conference have been waving Pride flags and chanting “Philly is a trans city” and “Philly is a queer city.”

Police have been stationed at the protests, which started Thursday outside the Marriott and the Museum of the American Revolution as it hosted a welcome reception for Moms for Liberty that night over outcry from its staff. While some interactions have been tense — police threatened to arrest anyone who blocked traffic Thursday night — only one arrest had been reported before Sunday.

Saturday’s protests were family-oriented, with children drawing on the street with chalk and decorating signs during a daylong dance party. Bodiford said activists hadn’t wanted to risk arrests of families.

As the dance party resumed Sunday, Bodiford said protesters wanted to send a message.

“We are willing to take things further than we have been,” he said from outside the Marriott, where Moms attendees were trickling out as the summit ended. “It’s actually not on their terms. It’s on our terms.”