UPDATE ON NORTH CAROLINA MOVEMENT

A growing group of protesters converged on the North Carolina state legislature Monday, in what some are calling "Mega Moral Monday," to protest the agenda of the Republican-led General Assembly.

It was the fifth and largest demonstration planned by the state chapter of the NAACP and other groups to protest GOP policies on social programs, education, criminal justice and taxes.

About 1,600 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.

The NAACP 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.