33 Arrested at Rose Parade

Activists protested gay marriage, animal rights, and the economy at the 125th annual parade

Thirty three people, including a juvenile, were arrested at the Tournament of Roses parade on New Year's Day as activists participated in a number of protests during the annual celebration in Pasadena.

Activists protested several floats, including one organized by a woman who opposes gay marriage and another by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, protesting the SeaWorld-sponsored float.

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The 33 people were arrested on charges of interfering with a special event after apparently trying to stop the progress of the SeaWorld float, according to the Pasadena Police Department.

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The Awake Coalition 2014 protested foreclosures and fracking.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation sponsored a float featuring the parade’s first same-sex marriage ceremony. Two men exchanged wedding vows atop of a wedding cake which sparked controversy as a San Diego woman created a Facebook page, saying the Rose Parade is a family event that shouldn’t be involved in what she calls a "political agenda."

READ: Gay Couple to Wed Atop Rose Parade Float

PETA supporters protested a float sponsored by SeaWorld, which featured a boy diving into a sea of ocean life, including a family of killer whales.

Rose McCoy, a 12-year-old who recently jumped a barricade at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City to protest the same float, was expected to be at the Rose Parade. Police would not confirm whether Rose was among those arrested on Wednesday.

Protesters accuse SeaWorld of covering up animal abuse. Seaworld calls PETA's protest a publicity stunt.

About 40 protesters were seen carrying a large black balloon. It was not immediately clear whether the balloon was a symbol of a new documentary called "Blackfish," which tells the story of a killer whale kept in captivity that killed three people.

About 10 people were arrested for trying to stop the SeaWorld float, which had a heavy police presence around it as it traveled along the parade route.

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About three quarters of a million people lined Colorado Boulevard through Pasadena.

Between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, police arrested 16 adults and one juvenile. The arrests included felony grand theft, public entoxication and battery, police said.

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