Anticasino protesters were up before the sun on Tuesday morning, eager for an early morning protest of the upcoming groundbreaking for SugarHouse casino.

With a little more than 50 protesters gathered at the casino's 22-acre site on Delaware Avenue, members of Casino-Free Philadelphia shared coffee and bagels as they prepared for a sit-in protest of the upcoming construction.

Dressed in coats and long-sleeve sweaters while clutching paper coffee cups in gloved hands, protesters seemed to be preparing themselves for the long haul as they started to demonstrate at about 6 a.m.

But Philadelphia police had other ideas.

With officers already on scene as the protest began, at around 6:30 a.m., the chanting quieted down early as more than a dozen protesters - including Casino-Free Philadelphia president Jethro Heiko and the group's sole employee, Lily Cavanaugh - were taken away in handcuffs.

Prior to their arrests, a number of protesters took positions on the ground in front of an entrance where construction trucks would go into the site.

The protesters - who sat arm in arm to block the entrance as an act of civil disobedience - chanted slogans of "our city, our say, no casinos, no way," and "the people have the power and the people say no" as members of the Philadelphia police slowly approached and dismantled their human chain, link by link.

The seated protesters seemed calm and patient as they waited their turn to be led into nearby police vans, each chanting a chorus of anti-casino slogans.

While certainly loud and visible, the protest likely had little impact on any work that would have occurred at the site that day. Capt. Will Fisher of the Philadelphia police's Civil Affairs unit said that the protesters were dispersed before construction crews were set to arrive.

According to the captain, construction crews were slated to arrive after 6:30 a.m.

"They haven't lost the day," he said. "This is an open site. Everybody has the right to work here."

Immediately after the protesters were taken away, Fisher was asked why the nine men and six women were arrested and just what their charges would entail.

Fisher said at the moment, he was not sure.

He promised that any charges would be determined "downtown."

"They'll sort that all out downtown," he said, referring to police headquarters at 8th and Race streets. "We took the blockade. We're going to keep (the site) detailed. The message has been sent."

While Wilson said "nine men and six women" were arrested - a total of 15 - Casino-Free released a statement on Tuesday claiming only 14 of their members had been taken away by police.

At press time, law enforcement officials had not released a final tally.

As the arrested protesters were driven away, those who remained shouted, "We'll be back!"

"This is just the direct action component of our protest," said Casino-Free activist, Brendan Walsh, shortly after the arrests were made. "It's part of the mission of Casino-Free. Every single action we have done (to oppose casinos) has been denied, now we need to take it to the streets. For some reason SugarHouse thinks we're going to go away, but we're not."

A small cadre of Casino-Free members, as well as a team of police, remained on scene after the arrests, and the protesters continued to shout anticasino slogans - even when a number of drivers headed down Delaware Avenue slowed to shout insults.

The protest continued until about 7:15 a.m.

As announced late last week, HSP Gaming, owner of SugarHouse casino, is planning to hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the casino on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Mayor Michael Nutter and City Councilman Frank DiCicco (D-1st dist.) are slated to attend.

Contacted Tuesday, SugarHouse spokeswoman Leigh Whitaker issued the following statement in the hours after the protest.

"While we respect the rights of the protesters to have their voices heard, it is disappointing that they want to prevent the creation of over 1,000 construction and permanent casino jobs, at a time when the unemployment rate is close to 10 percent, and deny the taxpayers of the Commonwealth additional wage and property tax relief," read the statement. "Further, valuable police resources expended to arrest these protesters could have been better used to fight crime in the City."

Reporter Hayden Mitman can be reached at 215-354-3124 or hmitman@phillynews.com