Chicago police arrested about 130 Occupy Chicago protesters starting about 1 a.m. Sunday after the group returned to Grant Park for the second weekend Saturday night and tried to maintain a camp in the park after its official closing time, the Chicago Tribune reports. Police estimated that the crowd that showed up for a rally earlier in the evening peaked at around 3,000. As the 11 p.m. park closing approached, more than 100 people decided to stay in the park.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he consulted with Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy before arrests were made last weekend. Occupy Chicago has demanded that the city drop charges against protesters. “The 1st Amendment guarantees the American people the right to peaceably assemble,” the group said. “Today we are going to use that right. Occupy Chicago calls on all local citizens to stand up and join us in this struggle.”