Occupy Raleigh marks 100th day; two arrested

The group held a march around the State Capitol called "100 Reasons to Demonstrate."

Two men were taken into custody after they refused to get out of Fayetteville Street, police said. Nicholas Alan Warren Johnson, 25, and John Christopher Pearson, 33, were both charged with impeding the flow of traffic.

They were physically arrested, police said, in connection with other charges. Johnson had two outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court and Pearson resisted officers who tried to charge him for disrupting traffic, police said.

In December, protesters moved into a new base camp in a 2,500-square-foot lot near West and Edenton Streets. Rob Baumgart, who owns a Sprint and Nextel sales company called Chatterbox Communications, leased the space to protesters for about $400 a month. 

Since then, protesters have used the space to organize, sleep and eat while they picket at the Capitol Building downtown. City officials said camping in small, personal tents is allowed in the business district with no time limits. 

Raleigh police haven't kept a permanent officer at the camp, as they do during protests at the Capitol, but have responded to complaints and arrested six people Dec. 17 during a march.