ROSEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — More than two dozen people werearrested in protests at California
Wal-Mart stores during the BlackFriday shopping surge.Police in Roseville, northeast ofSacramento,
arrested 15 people following a protest at a Wal-Mart there,police said. The protesters were taken into
custody for failing todisperse when they blocked an intersection in the Placer County city,police Sgt.
Jeff Kool said.The protesters had marched about ahalf mile to the intersection following a demonstration
that includedabout 100 people protesting Wal-Mart’s wages and labor practices, TheSacramento Bee
reported.It was one of many similar protests across the country Friday.Amelia McLear, a spokeswoman for
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., told the newspaper the protesters were a "vocal
minority.""We’realways willing to have a dialogue with our critics but it’s hard tohave a
dialogue with people screaming into a megaphone," McLear said.InSouthern California, 10 people were
arrested from among more than 100members of a labor group and their supporters after they sat down in
anOntario intersection and waited to be taken away by police.KarlHilgert, of Claremont, who came dressed
as Santa Claus, said he plannedto be arrested for civil disobedience, and he and the others were
latertaken into custody as they sat in a circle in the roadway.Several state legislators also joined the
protest, where signs read "Livable Wages Over Greed.""We’reonly asking for something
basic — food on our tables and roofs over ourheads," Freddie Rodriguez, D-Chino, told the San
Bernardino Sun.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be
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