Thomas Hellinger, a former Student Government Association Senate Chairman and UCF student activist, was arrested overnight during an Occupy Orlando event downtown.

Thomas Hellinger

According to the Occupy Orlando Facebook page, at least 11 people were arrested for refusing to leave Beth Johnson Park after hours.

Members of the group have been arrested for trespassing before, but this is the first time KnightNews.com has confirmed a UCF activist was arrested at Occupy Orlando.

The group posted video of the arrests on YouTube, which is below:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8xc-OVn97I

Hellinger was charged with trespassing after being warned and booked into jail at 1:37 a.m., according to jail records. KnightNews.com was monitoring Hellinger’s first appearance before a judge on a live video feed shortly before noon. It was ordered that he be released today, however, it could take a few hours before he’s done being processed and released from the facility.

Occupy Orlando Arrests

This is not the first arrest associated with Hellinger’s activism. KnightNews.com reported how Hellinger has arrested a few months earlier for feeding homeless people near Orlando’s Lake Eola Park. The City of Orlando and Food Not Bombs group came to a deal to drop those charges after both sides found agreed on a new place to feed the homeless.

KnightNews.com was first to report that another UCF student was arrested during the birth of the Occupy movement, up at Occupy Wallstreet in New York City. You can watch that student’s interview here at the preceding link.