Almost half of a group of 20 Occupy Atlanta protesters were arrested Thursday afternoon as they made their way past Georgia State University on their way to the Capitol for a rally.
According to Deputy Chief Renee Propes of the Atlanta Police Department, six men and two women were taken into custody on charges of obstruction around 2:30 p.m. Hundreds of Georgia State students lined the sidewalks watching them pass and afraid to cross the street because officers had warned them they would be arrested if the entered the roadway.
"They were blocking the street and people are trying to get to work," said Shontasha Roache, a GSU graduate student studying to be a teacher.
"People couldn't get to class. They [police] told us if we stepped in the street they'd arrest us."
One of the protesters held back as the others left, chanting over a megaphone, "Ain't no party like the Occupy party because the Occupy party don't stop."
As if taunting the police, some protesters would dance in the crosswalk and at least one young man laid down for the few seconds that the light allowed them to be in the street. With seven seconds left on the clock, the man jumped up and ran back to the sidewalk.
Roache said she was not participating in the demonstration because "I'm not getting arrested." But she also said, "I don't know what they stand for. I'm confused, they're all over the place."
Before heading to the state Capitol grounds, the remaining occupiers rallied in a coutyard at GSU, with dozens of students gathered around as they shouted their message.
As one of them said ‘our education is under attack', there were catcalls from the crowd.
"No it's not," one male student shouted.
And another man, walking away, said loudly "go get a job and stop wasting my time."
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