The protesters were members of Reclaim Philadelphia, a group mainly composed of former Bernie Sanders campaign volunteers. | AP Photo 6 protesters arrested at Democratic convention HQ in Philadelphia

Six protesters from a pro-Bernie Sanders group were arrested in a sit-in Wednesday in Philadelphia, in what could be an early hint of what’s to come once the Democratic Party's convention begins next week, a spokesman for the activists said.

The afternoon protest took place at the Center City headquarters of the Democratic National Convention's host committee, which the activists condemned for refusing to release the convention’s financial records. The protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct and failure to disperse, but were released shortly afterward and issued civil fines, Reclaim Philadelphia spokesman Alex Nagle said.


The group had marched to the headquarters from City Hall after staging a rally there around 4 p.m. The sit-in began around 4:45 p.m. and continued for an hour before arrests began, Nagle said.

While not listed as an approved protest group during the convention, Reclaim Philadelphia is one of numerous groups, such as Black Men for Bernie, Occupy DNC and Bernie for Bust, with designs on keeping Sanders’ “revolution” alive while his rival Hillary Clinton assumes the Democratic nomination. Reclaim Philadelphia is mainly composed of former Sanders campaign volunteers.

The sit-in specifically targeted the host committee’s refusal to release the list of convention donors, a decision also criticized by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. The committee has said it will release the list 60 days after the convention is over, even though donors' names had been available well before the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The host committee leaders — former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen and Independence Blue Cross CEO David Hilferty — "have long histories of lobbying for policies that are opposed to the draft of the Democratic Party platform in 2016,” Nagle said.

Cohen is a regular donor in national and local election cycles and has previously donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates, including Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Philadelphia Democratic Party Chairman Rep. Bob Brady.

Rendell was not immediately available for comment, while a Comcast spokeswoman said the company was "unaware of the protest.” Philadelphia police were not immediately available for comment.

Later Wednesday night, host committee communications director Anna Adams-Sarthou said in a statement that the protesters' actions "are perpetuating a negative narrative that does not exist."

"The fact is the Host Committee's fundraising has been on track and, moreover, successful, with no City dollars spent to cover any of our obligations," she said. "From day one, the Host Committee has made the best interests of Philadelphia a priority, including helping the city shine for the Convention, and it's unfortunate there are those who purport otherwise."