Protests mark bankers' convention

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Hecklers and a woman attempting to arrest Republican Party strategist Karl Rove disrupted a convention of mortgage bankers in San Francisco, reports said.

No injuries were reported at the Mortgage Bankers Association convention, which is normally a low-key affair, The New York Times reported.

But, this year's convention was different. A woman jumped on stage in an attempt to handcuff Rove, a former adviser to U.S. President George Bush, accusing him of treason, the Times reported.

Protesters demanding a moratorium on foreclosures disrupted a panel discussion Monday evening and protesters with bullhorns harassed bankers outside the convention.

"Everyone is blaming us for everything," Gregory Lucas a mortgage broker from Pomona, Calif., told the Times. He also recalled a different form of distraction during conventions in the 1990s.

"We had streakers … but that was a joyful, happy thing," he said.