Two activists are arrested at City Hall
The members of a black solidarity group, there to protest the mayor's budget, scrapped with police.
Two members of a black solidarity group that hounded President Obama on the campaign trail last year were arrested in the balcony of City Council chambers yesterday and charged with assault after they scrapped with police.
A ceremonial recognition of the national champion Frankford Chargers Pop Warner football team ended with punches flying upstairs.
About a dozen members of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, who came to protest Mayor Nutter's budget speech, refused requests by the Council's sergeant-at-arms staff to remain silent during the Council meeting.
The group's leader, Wali Rahman, 32, of the 3700 block of Lancaster Avenue, who goes by the name Diop Olugbala, held a sign reading "Throw Nutter in the gutter," and repeated the name of Shareef Lee Jones, a 14-year-old Frankford player who was shot dead last August in a confrontation with a retired police officer who was working as a pizza deliveryman.
Rahman, an organizer for the movement, made national news last year when he challenged Obama's commitment to the black community at a Town Hall event in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Police said the protesters "became louder and also verbally abusive." When Rahman was asked to leave, police said, Rahman tried to "push, shove and throw punches" at a police Civil Affairs sergeant. The altercation appeared to break out when the sergeant attempted to forcibly take the sign from Rahman.
Franklin Moses, 54, of the 100 block of West Logan Street, known as Shabbaka Mnombatha, also was arrested.
Uhuru members chanted "Jail the killer cops now!" as the men were led away.
The Uhuru Movement issued a press release yesterday calling the incident a "violent attack" by police. An elderly woman broke her hip, the release said, but police did not confirm it.
The two men face various charges including aggravated assault, obstructing justice and resisting arrest. A sergeant suffered minor injuries, police said.
The disruption, which lasted about 15 minutes, happened before Mayor Nutter delivered his budget address to the Council.