Anchorage police said two Occupy Anchorage protesters were arrested Saturday afternoon for trespassing after a demonstration inside the 5th Avenue Mall Downtown.
APD said it received a report around 2:30 p.m. about a large disturbance. According to APD Sgt. Tim Landeis, the arrests occurred when protesters dressed in hazmat suits spilled fake paper money outside the mall’s branch office of the Wells Fargo bank, then made loud noises as they picked it up. Police said one person was released, but the other had an outstanding warrant.
Occupy protesters nationwide declared Saturday Bank Transfer Day, urging Americans to withdraw their funds from nationwide banking chains and instead deposit them in locally owned banks or credit unions.
A photo emailed to Channel 2 shows protesters cleaning up the money with brooms, with some of the paper inside the bank’s entrance.
Protesters claimed on Occupy Anchorage’s Livestream site Saturday that they had also been harassed by mall security guards.
“(S)pread the news flood (mall owner Simon Property Group) with calls about MALL SECURITY roughing up and detaining demonstrators,” wrote site user AkAnnaG.
APD says other protesters were at the scene, but weren’t arrested.
