RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More than 100 people were arrested Monday at the largest demonstration yet of the North Carolina NAACP’s weeks-long protest of the conservative policies of the Republican-led General Assembly.

Police estimated that roughly 1,000 people attended a rally late Monday afternoon behind the Legislative Building on Halifax Mall. Hundreds then entered the building. Upwards of 150 people were arrested outside the doors to the state Senate chambers, where demonstrators chanted, sang and delivered speeches decrying what they called a regressive agenda that neglects the poor.

Activist groups estimated the crowd at about 1,600.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been holding weekly protests in Raleigh since mid-April, and what started with 17 arrests and tens of supporters back then has grown every week, bringing the total number of arrests to nearly 300 after five weeks of protests.

Groups ranging from abortion-rights supporters to environmentalists and public educators have joined the rallies, which have attracted people from Greensboro to Rocky Mount.

Protesters have been seeking to call attention to the rightward shift of the state legislature, which was dominated for decades by moderate Democrats.

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans captured both chambers of the legislature for the first time in more than 100 years. They’ve since built veto-proof majorities and taken control of the governor’s mansion while lawmakers have pushed a conservative agenda on social programs, criminal justice, taxes, education, voting rights and other areas.

Demonstrators complain that Republicans have overstepped their mandate from voters, hurtling the state back to another era.

Darren Hunicutt, 33, an accountant from Chapel Hill, said he brought his wife and 8-year-old twin boys to the demonstrations because he believes decisions to block a Medicaid expansion, cut the number of teacher assistants, limit eligibility for pre-kindergarten and expand sales taxes go too far.

“The Republicans have taken a progressive state that prioritizes education for young people, prioritizes economic justice, prioritizes access to health care and basically in the last six to 12 months done a complete 180,” he said.

Among those who stood outside the state Senate’s door awaiting arrest was George Gresham, president of the Service Employees International Union’s United Healthcare Workers East, which represents nearly 400,000 members from Florida to Massachusetts. He said the state’s policies go against the working poor, and the growing momentum of the NAACP’s demonstrations will catch fire elsewhere.

“We need this fight in the whole country, and if we’re going to begin in North Carolina, so be it,” Gresham said.

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