15 Arrested at Haliburton Shareholder Protest

Police say 15 of about 250 people protesting Halliburton's involvement in Iraq, were arrested at the downtown Houston hotel where the company's annual meeting was being held.

Seven activists who dressed in business attire, snuck into the Four Seasons hotel and chained themselves to each other to block entry to the meeting. Police had earlier erected barricades, with over 30 Houston horse police, undercover cops and heavy foot police presence amassed. By 9 am, there were 12 activists inside the hotel. Four were escorted out by hotel security and Houston police, while the rest were detained.

Outside, things began heating when police on horseback confromted largely peaceful demonstrators. The horses trampled several people. Houston police said at a news conference this morning that during the demonstration, officers were attacked, but protesters outside, said it was police who used unreasonable force.

Two protestors, Andrea Buffa and Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, got inside meeting and directly questioned war-profiteer / Halliburton CEO David Lesar. The sharehoolder meeting was closed to media, but Lesar later told reporters that the company's still evaluating a contract to rebuild southern Iraq's oil industry.

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