Police in West Palm Beach have arrested four members of the Occupy Wall Street movement for trespassing after several protesters allegedly chained themselves to City Hall.
West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio last week notified about 20 activists that they had until Thursday to leave protest site, according to The Palm Beach Post.
Early Monday morning, officers arrested three protesters who had chained themselves to an air conditioning unit on top of an overhang. A fourth protester was arrested because he was sleeping and did not hear police telling him to leave.
"We already told the city that we'd stand up for our rights for freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, and we were well aware that this was going to happen," Occupy spokesman Brian Houle told WPBF. "So some people decided to resist that arrest, and got arrested. But if you don't believe in your rights and don't stand up for them, who will?"
Police have erected a fence to discourage future encampments. Protesters had been occupying the site since Dec. 11. Several of them have already vowed to return.
Watch this video from WPBF, broadcast March. 5, 2012.
