14 Protestors Arrested At Casino's Gate

Protests early Tuesday morning led to the arrest of more than a dozen people opposed to the construction of the new SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown.

Casino-Free Philadelphia was behind the protest. The participants included a reverend, a reserved grandmother and others who were peacefully picked up, put in plastic handcuffs and placed under arrest.

One of the group's founders told Fox 29 News at 5 a.m. that he expected about 50 to 75 protestors to show up within the hour.

Fox 29's Steve Keeley reported that police at headquarters were watching "Good Day Philadelphia's" first live report Tuesday morning, and they soon showed up in big numbers.

By 5:30 a.m., about 30 uniformed and non-uniformed officers from a civil disobedience crew – wearing business suits with orange arms bands – arrived to try to keep the peace and, if needed, keep the gates to the site open.

The officers took preemptive measures at the gate and held handcuffs they would later need.

Around 6 a.m., 50 or more protestors -- wearing red shirts that said "Bankrupting Casinos" got in position with their arms inter-locked, blocking the gates and temporarily keeping any trucks from getting onto the construction site.

Among the signs the protestors held were "Casinos Destroy People, Families, And Neighborhoods," "Casinos, Legal Ponzi Schemes," and "Philadelphia Deserves Better Than This For The Historic Waterfront."

Captain Bill Fisher, a 12-year veteran of the police department's civil affairs unit, gave the group a first warning at 6:15 a.m., followed by a second warning at 6:20 a.m.

After a third warning at 6:25 a.m., the arrests began with the pastor of Arch Street United Methodist Church, the Rev. Robin Hynicka.

By 6:30, the founder of Casino-Free Philadelphia joined him in the wagon, and shortly thereafter a grandmother was under arrest, too.

Police soon brought in a second wagon for the 14 total people they took into custody. The protestors ranged in age from about 20 to 70.

"We had some good intelligence, and we had everything pretty well planned out. Everything fell into place," Fisher said. "The most important thing, as you can see in the back, is that we got these construction workers working and things are back to normal."

Jethro Heiko of Casino-Free Philadelphia previously told Fox 29 News, "For us, this is just a first step toward future endeavors during construction and then, if they ever do open either Philadelphia casino, we're prepared to take action inside the casino, outside the casino – really make it difficult for people who want to participate in this predatory practice to come."

Asked if he is willing to get arrested, Heiko said, "We've done it before, we're happy to do it again. I mean, we'd prefer not to, of course. But, you know, if it comes to that and the lending institutions and government and the casino don't really take our warning that this casino will eventually go bankrupt, then they're asking for it."

Leigh Whitaker, of Sugar House Casino, told Fox 29 News that they expect to add "slightly more than 500" jobs for the interim facility and, as they build out phase one, they'll add another 500 jobs later.

SugarHouse has now publicly disclosed what "Good Day" reported last week, which is that an official groundbreaking ceremony will take place a week from Thursday outside the gates. The event will feature the leading investors in the project as well as political leaders, including Mayor Michael Nutter and City Councilman Frank DiCicco. The event will not be open to the public.

As for the results of Tuesday's protest, Casino-Free Philadelphia's Ellen Somekawa said, "We made the point that the people of Philadelphia will stand up to oppose these casinos from opening. Fourteen of our brave brothers and sisters were arrested by police for blocking the entrance to the SugarHouse Casino to say that we will stop these casinos from opening in Philadelphia."

"It went totally according to plan," said Brendan Walsh, also of the protest group. "I think the people getting arrested made the organizers of Casino-Free, it just shows our resolve. This isn't going away. This direct action is going to continue. We're going to close any casinos that open. It's that simple."