Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

In Occupy Philadelphia protest, two arrested

Two people were arrested Tuesday afternoon during an Occupy Philadelphia protest that created traffic jams in Center City. About 125 Occupy members marched through Center City in honor of May Day, a traditional date for celebrating workers’ rights.

Police officers use their bicycles to keep Occupy Philadelphia members back as one is taken into custody. Occupy blocked the street outside a bank branch on Walnut Street as part of a May Day protest. TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Police officers use their bicycles to keep Occupy Philadelphia members back as one is taken into custody. Occupy blocked the street outside a bank branch on Walnut Street as part of a May Day protest. TOM GRALISH / Staff PhotographerRead more
    by Miriam Hill, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
    Published 

Two people were arrested Tuesday afternoon during an Occupy Philadelphia protest that created traffic jams in Center City.

About 125 Occupy members marched through Center City in honor of May Day, a traditional date for celebrating workers' rights.

Occupiers tried to shut down a Wells Fargo bank at 17th and Walnut Streets. When a customer tried to use the ATM there, a scuffle began, and police arrested two protesters. Occupy members said the customer started the fight.

Names of the people arrested were not immediately available.

Occupy participants targeted Wells Fargo as a protest against the housing crisis and large bank bailouts.

The group dispersed shortly after the arrests, and many of them were relaxing in Rittenhouse Square by about 4 p.m.

The police action prevented Occupy members from joining a small group of strippers who gathered outside the Inquirer and Daily News Building on North Broad Street at 3 p.m. to protest a Daily News article that linked nude dancing to prostitution and violence.

"Women make career choices for many reasons. I chose stripping because I love dancing and playing dress-up," said Melissa Forgione, who dances under the name Melissa Bang-Bang.

Contact Miriam Hill at 215-854-5520 or hillmb@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @miriamhill. Read the City Hall politics blog at www.heardinthehall.com.