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Protesters Arrested After Rappelling NFL Stadium To Hang Banner

They're going after Bank of America inside Bank of America Stadium.
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By 

Associate Sports Editor, The Huffington Post

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Streeter Lecka via Getty Images

Four people from We Are Cove Point, a Maryland-based activist group, were arrested after two members rappelled from the upper deck balcony of Bank of America Stadium during Monday night's Indianapolis Colts-Carolina Panthers game. 

On a rainy night in Charlotte, North Carolina, two protesters from the group descended from the upper deck during the third quarter of the game, hanging right below the press box to hang a "Dump Dominion" sign directed at Bank of America, the stadium's naming rights sponsor. 

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Charlotte Observer via Getty Images
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Charlotte Observer via Getty Images

The protesters targeted Bank of America Stadium to bring awareness and opposition to North Carolina energy company Dominion Resources' plans to build a liquefied natural gas export facility in Cove Point, Maryland -- a project that Bank of America has heavily financed, according to the group's website. While their local cause gained the attention of ESPN's Monday Night Football cameras, arrests were promptly made after the banner-hanging aerial protesters were brought down. 

According to CBS affiliate WBTV-3, David Baghdadi, 38, Angela Vogel, 35, John Nicholson, 29, and Erica Madrid, 35, were all arrested for the stunt, which required a rescue from the Charlotte Fire Department. The two rappellers have not been identified yet. All have been charged with trespassing and disobeying an officer's orders, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. 

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Charlotte Observer via Getty Images

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