Seattle police arrest 16 Occupy protesters

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Police arrested 16 Occupy Seattle protesters early Saturday after they broke into a locked Capitol Hill building and refused to leave.

KOMO-TV (http://is.gd/p8MyOY ) reports the incident began at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, when a number of Occupy Seattle protesters broke into an empty, privately owned building.

Seattle police detective Mark Jamieson says the protesters then decided to hold a benefit concert as a fundraiser and let others into the building.

Seattle police officers tried to contact the protesters, who closed and locked the door, then barricaded themselves inside.

Police contacted the owner of the building, who said the protesters did not have permission to be in the building. Starting at about 3:25 a.m., police ordered the protesters to leave but several refused to go.

Jamieson says officers then arrested 16 people who were still inside and booked them into King County Jail for investigation of criminal trespass.

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Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/