Wells Fargo & Co.’s annual meeting Tuesday in San Francisco was more tumultuous than usual, as angry shareholders called for the bank to adopt an immediate foreclosure moratorium and waive principal on troubled mortgages, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

At one point, five shareholders were escorted by San Francisco police officers out of the meeting, arm in arm, with one shouting as she left, “Profit over people isn’t good for the United States.”

The chants of protesters, which included “You owe us,” could be heard from 15 floors below the Julia Morgan Ballroom on California Street in San Francisco, where the meeting was held. The Service Employees International Union and other public employees’ unions, along with several housing and faith-based groups, were prominent in the protest that greeted arriving shareholders.

Some shareholders said they would not step away from the microphone until Wells Fargo agreed to a foreclosure moratorium. Turning off the mic did not deter them.

The bank was equally persistent in rejecting a foreclosure moratorium.

“No. We’re not going to agree to a moratorium. It doesn’t help the process,” said Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf. “A moratorium only puts off the inevitable.”

He said when Wells Fargo moves to foreclosure, the borrower is typically 16 months behind on payments and a fourth of the troubled homeowners have already abandoned their properties.

“We forgave $4 billion of shareholder capital to keep these families in their homes,” Stumpf said, noting that the bank has helped 700,000 borrowers through loan modifications. He said 80 percent of those modifications were done outside the federal Home Affordable Modification Program.

Stumpf also defended the $19 million pay package he received last year, saying that 70 percent of his compensation is based on corporate performance.