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Dozens Arrested At Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — Authorities have arrested about two dozen people who demonstrated inside and outside Wells Fargo's annual shareholders meeting Tuesday afternoon.

San Francisco police Sgt. Mike Andraychak says police arrested 20 protesters. At least 14 of them were inside the meeting in the city's financial district. Six others were arrested for trespassing.

Andraychak said the San Francisco Sheriff's Department arrested another four people.

The bank protest drew several hundred protesters, many associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The demonstrators criticized the San Francisco-based company for pursuing home foreclosures, predatory lending, not paying enough taxes, and investing in private prison companies.

Wells Fargo & Co. spokesman Ruben Pulido says the company respects the protesters' right to gather but would work to keep its customers, employees and shareholders safe.

A group calling itself 99 Percent Power said demonstrators want to address the meeting on issues such as home foreclosures, investment in private prison companies, and corporate taxes.

Hundreds of union members, activists and clergy members blocked the street in front of the building beforehand waving signs and chanting, "We are the 99 percent! Let us in!"

Pulido defended the bank's foreclosure policies, saying that less than 2 percent of the loans Wells Fargo issued on owner-occupied properties had been foreclosed on.

"We work to keep people in their homes where there is affordability. Unfortunately, some people have seen their incomes drastically reduced due to unemployment or underemployment," he said.

Occupy protesters in Sacramento joined the worldwide movement in 2011 and protested for weeks at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento. A handful of protesters now remain, and have since moved across the street to the lawn in front of City Hall.

(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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