A relative calm fell on Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday following two nights of violent protests after a grand jury declined to bring charges against a white police officer in the shooting death of unarmed, black teen Michael Brown, but in California tensions remained high as nearly 200 protesters were arrested.
In Los Angeles and Oakland, demonstrators took to the streets for a third night since the grand jury decision in a show of solidarity with the family of the dead Missouri teen. Protesters blocked roads and even clashed with police, the LA Times reported.
During the demonstrations in Los Angeles on Wednesday, nearly 150 people were arrested in connection to the Ferguson shooting protest for failure to disperse, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) commander Andrew Smith told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. This is up from 130 arrests reported earlier.
“When they will no longer comply with our requests and when it becomes dangerous, when they start running in and out of cars and put the public at risk, then we have to take action,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said, according to the LA Times. Police arrested about 145 people; they face misdemeanor charges and $500 bail, Beck told the paper.
The arrests were precipitated by several hours of marching through LA in the afternoon and early evening. A crowd of between 200 and 300 people marched for hours through the city streets, blocking traffic as they crossed intersections and occasionally pounding on cars. They were stopped by a phalanx of police in riot gear near the Central Library in downtown LA. Officers corralled a group of demonstrators who refused to disperse and made a mass arrest.
In northern California, demonstrations in Oakland devolved into unrest and vandalism for a third night.
Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said 33 demonstrators were arrested after a march by about 100 people through the city streets, blocking traffic. She said that later, small groups began moving through the streets, with some smashed windows and vandalized property.
By midnight, most of the protesters had dispersed save for a very small group that police were monitoring, Watson said.
Since the grand jury decision on Monday, the LAPD and California Highway Patrol have made more than 330 arrests over the past three nights of protests. Demonstrations held in other California cities on Wednesday remained peaceful.
In Chicago, three demonstrators were arrested during a protest organized by a group called the Revolutionary Communist Party, the Chicago Tribune reported. During the protest, demonstrators chanted and carried signs that read, Justice for Mike Brown. They also called for the a boycott of Black Friday, and asked the public to instead, recognize the day as “Black lives Matter” Friday.
In Ferguson, just two arrests were made on Wednesday evening, down from 44 the night before and 80 arrests in the immediate aftermath of the grand jury decision was announced, a spokesman for St Louis County police said. A small group of protesters gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department, as snow fell on the city.
Solidarity protests continued for a third night in other cities, including Atlanta, Denver and San Diego, though they remained largely calm and peaceful.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment