Just as the Foxwoods Casino is about to begin the formal approval process to build in the Gallery Mall, activists today began a counter campaign. Casino-Free Philadelphia launched its “Declaration of Independence from Casinos” campaign to pressure city officials to block gambling altogether. The event staged near Independence Hall featured a handful of demonstrators dressed in Colonial-era clothing who believe citizens have a right to live in city without casinos.

Video taken by Jason Kleinman who is an intern for It’s Our City and a graduate student in public policy at Rutgers University.