Eight protesters were arrested Wednesday in a Houston demonstration connected with the economically disgruntled Occupy Wall Street protest movement sweeping the nation, police said.

They were among a group of more than 150 protesters outside the Mickey Leland Federal Building downtown, where a large group crammed inside for a sit-in, drawing dozens of police officers in riot gear and inspiring moments of tension.

Several groups, including demonstrators aligned with the Occupy Houston movement, took part in the sit-in.

Three women and five men were charged with criminal trespassing. The demonstrators also included representatives of the Jobs Not Cuts organization.

The protesters said they were upset about the lack of jobs and soaring unemployment rates nationwide, even as many major corporations have flourished during the recession. They descended on the federal building because Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison have offices there and voted had Tuesday against beginning Senate discussion on a jobs plan, said Joel Coon, a spokesman for Good Jobs Great Houston.

Authorities ordered the protestors to leave the building and called in reinforcements, drawing at least 50 officers and members of the Houston Police Department's mounted horse patrol.

Police tried to move the protesters behind a series of steel barricades they had set up on the perimeter of the federal building, at 1919 Smith.

Feeling powerless

The protest fizzled around 1:45 p.m., after officers formed a human chain and held batons as they pushed the crowd behind the barriers.

The protesters, who had chanted, "The people united will never be defeated," headed off to regroup at City Hall and Eleanor Tinsley Park while chanting "We'll be back!"

Some protesters tried to distance themselves from the demonstrators who were arrested after attempting the sit-in.

"It's not going to do any good if everybody gets arrested," said Emina Bozek, a 28-year-old San Jacinto College student and self-storage company employee who left the building before arrests were made.

Bozek and Kelly Wilson, 24, said they have been attending Occupy Houston protests because of frustrations with the behavior of corporations and a sense of economic powerlessness among the public.

"It's greedy to save the few pennies because they don't want to pay people here minimum-wage jobs, they'd rather outsource the jobs," Bozek said. "But then again, we the people need to educate ourselves and understand that when we buy iPhones and support AT&T - and they'd rather ship those jobs over there - it's sort of our fault."

Venting frustrations

The protest at the federal building was the latest in a string of demonstrations within the past week outside City Hall and at Tinsley Park.

Protesters with the movement, which started in New York last month and has spread across the nation, have vented their frustrations over benefits they said go to the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations - even as many people struggle to make ends meet.

The specifics of the movement's messages have been varied, but most have argued that "the 99 percent" should have more of a say in government than the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

Staff writers Robert Stanton and Zain Shauk contributed to this report.

anita.hassan@chron.commike.morris@chron.com