Twelve people have been arrested during numerous OCE protests in Philadelphia. The demonstration occured on Tuesday morning leading to a standoff near Arch and Broad streets. Eight additional individuals were handcuffed and taken out of the Comcast Center while engaging in a sit-in. The police arrested these individuals during two different sit-ins protesting immigration and customs enforcement or ICE. The day the demonstrations occured was the National Day of Action Against ICE. The Movimiento Cosecha immigrants rights group organized both events and protests were held all over the country on Tuesday. A complete stop of ICE was called for by the demonstrators. This is an idea that has received support from Democrats including Mayor Jim Kenny. Republicans like President Donald Trump have attacked the idea.
The first demonstration occured at approximately 9 a.m. in Philadelphia near Arch and Broad streets. There were several dozen protestors standing on the streets and sidewalks just north of City Hall. The protestors occasionally slowed and shut down the traffic coming from North Broad Street. The Inquirer stated several warnings were given to the protestors. A makeshift camp was dismantled by work crews and the police prior to midday on Tuesday. The protestors had set up the camp near the Municipal Services Building on a patch of grass. After this point, the protest predominately occured both on the sidewalk and the street by the Arch Street United Methodist Church. There were numerous tense standoffs between approximately fifty police officers and the demonstrators. For more details please visit Your text to link….
All four of the individuals removed during the protest and taken into custody were released after being cited for failure to disperse. Another demonstration began later at the Comcast Center near Arch and 17th streets. Movimiento Cosecha was also leading this protest and targeted numerous companies throughout the nation such as Amazon in New York City and Comcast in Philadelphia. The demands of the organization were for Comcast to refuse to allow the ICE officers to purchase internet services. According to the PhillyVoice, the protest held in the lobby of the Comcast Center lasted for approximately ninety minutes. The eight individuals taken into custody were not held for long. These demonstrations took place shortly after the setup outside of City Hall was voluntarily dismantled. They had camped in this location until an announcement was made by Mayor Kenney that the city would not renew their agreement with ICE regarding data sharing.
