Homeless camp-out at Seattle City Hall in protest

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Police arrested 15 homeless advocates who blocked a downtown Seattle intersection near City Hall to protest sweeps that have removed transient camps.

Police led them away to a waiting bus Monday when they refused two orders to clear the street.

The protesters had camped overnight at the City Hall Plaza saying they're tired of losing their tents and blankets to city sweeps. They want the city to change its sweeps' policy so they can get property seized in those sweeps back.

John has lived on Seattle's streets for six months. He says many of his friends have lost work tools, clothes, pots, pans, tents warm weather gear. "Throwing it away when it's brand-new stuff half the time," he says. "It's about common decency."

He says the current city policy requires police and parks' workers to throw-out everything, which he says doesn't make sense, "They were constantly losing stuff and constantly re-buying it, and then they'd lose it again a few days later," John says. "You can only knock somebody down so many times before they decide they're just not going to get back up."

The homeless protesters are also trying to put pressure on the Mayor's Office to increase the number of shelter beds available in the city. A recent overnight count of the homeless put the number at about 2,600. That's up 15-percent from last year.

(Copyright 2008, The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.)