Occupy Atlanta Marchers Try to Storm Midtown Hospital

Around 300 people with the Occupy Atlanta movement tried to storm  Friday evening.

It was an intense scene as people armed with protest signs, bull horns and banners marched to the hospital doors, trying to push their way through. Emory police lined the entrance, preventing the marchers from entering. 

No arrests were made during the march.

The march was organized in support of the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter located across the street from the hospital.

The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which operates the shelter, this week filed a lawsuit against Emory University and Emory Healthcare that claims the healthcare company engaged in a conspiracy to sabotage the shelter.

The shelter has struggled for years to stay open, in part because it doesn't raise enough money to cover the cost of operations. The shelter owes the city of Atlanta nearly $200,000 for water and sewer service, according to Courthouse News Service. The shelter recently lost a federal lawsuit  that claimed the city was conspiring to shut the facility down.

Emory today issued a statement and the .

"While we certainly support Occupy Atlanta’s right and desire to peacefully gather and demonstrate, we strongly disagree with their assertion that Emory University and Emory Healthcare discriminate in any way, shape or form against the men and women we serve each and every day," Emory said in the prepared statement.

A group of Occupy Atlanta protesters in Midtown on Tuesday evening, where they chanted in protest of bank bailouts, and took turns making speeches. The gathering was peaceful and the protesters did not attempt to enter the bank.

It's unclear how many of the protesters who tried to push their way into the hospital Friday were new to the Occupy Atlanta group.