Democratic convention protesters attract police

Occupy Demonstrators march in downtown during an unscheduled protest march, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Charlotte, N.C. The Democratic National Convention begins Wednesday (Manila time). AP/Chuck Burton

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina—Protesters blocked an intersection near the Democratic National Convention for about two hours on Tuesday, attracting hundreds of police officers before they were allowed to keep walking. It was the tensest demonstration yet outside either of this year’s major national political conventions to formally name candidates for the November presidential election.

Officers took two protesters away in handcuffs. The protesters came close enough to delegates to exchange slogans.

“Four more years,” shouted supporters of President Barack Obama.

“No more years,” came back the reply.

The demonstration started half dozen Vietnam-era veterans calling for better medical care and other issues were joined in an unauthorized march by dozens of members of the Occupy movement against economic inequality. The Occupy group was protesting the incarceration of a soldier accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks.

About 50 protesters disrupted traffic by sitting down in the middle of the intersection. They were quickly surrounded by heavily armed officers in riot gear. A police major using a loudspeaker urged the protesters to enter a nearby fenced-in area designated by the city for permitted convention demonstrations.

The impasse was broken after two protesters spoke to the Charlotte police chief and said they were told they could continue to walk as a group on public sidewalks.

While the afternoon demonstrations were tense, they were free of violence or mayhem.

The marchers eventually agreed to head back to a park where they were camping.

Hundreds of protesters also demonstrated outside the Republican National Convention last week, but the turnout was far smaller than expected.

Also arrested Tuesday were 10 people who identified themselves as illegal immigrants who were protesting in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.

The protesters traveled to Charlotte in a colorful passenger bus emblazoned with butterflies and the slogan, “No Papers No Fear.”

Among those arrested was Rosi Carrasco, a Chicago woman whom the group identified as an illegal immigrant first brought to the United States as a child. A married mother, she said she wanted to set an example for her two daughters by protesting the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.

“It was my children that taught me that making change requires taking risks and the status quo of mass deportation constitutes a human rights crisis we can no longer tolerate,” she said in a written statement issued by the group.

Police did not confirm the protesters’ immigration status or say whether they would report them to federal authorities. It is the policy of the county sheriff’s office to report all detained illegal immigrants.