Occupy Philadelphia protesters arrested

Philadelphia police Sunday arrested 15 people associated with Occupy Philadelphia for blocking Eighth Street near Race Street, just outside police headquarters.

The sit-in began about 17 hours earlier as a protest march against police brutality nationwide.

They were the first arrests made since the Occupy Philadelphia movement began the first week of October. Occupy Philadelphia is a grassroots demonstration against Wall Street, corporate greed and other issues, such as police brutality.

The arrests were made peacefully, and the police department's handling of the matter even brought praise from an Occupy Philadelphia organizer.

"This went off really well. The police department really showed the rest of the world, specifically New York, how to handle protesters," said Julia Alford-Fowler, an Occupy Philadelphia organizer in its legal working group. "And I think they should be commended for being peaceful."

The protesters, who sat with their arms linked and many of them wearing scarves over their faces, were arrested for "obstructing a highway." Officers removed them one by one. Some were carried, some walked. The protest took place near police headquarters.

Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, stood by and oversaw the arrests. He explained that the protesters were given the option of relocating to another spot, but chose to remain and be arrested.

"We have to have traffic lanes open," Gillison explained.

Most of the protesters were in their 20s, some of them recently unemployed, some recent college graduates. Several said they had been wrongly arrested or had their rights violated by police locally and elsewhere.

"We're taught in school this is the land of the free," though many are incarcerated in the United States, said Bri Barton, 22, a recent graduate of Moore College of Art and Design. "I want people to stop dying because of this country."

Matthew Goodsell, 25, of Philadelphia, a recently unemployed floor installer, said he had been wrongfully arrested twice including once for underage drinking.

Deborah Vonberg, 24, of Levittown, said police also had violated her civil rights.

"Stop police brutality," chanted the protesters and others who had gathered to support them, "Stop police brutality."

Contact Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@phillynews.com