People across the nation came out into the streets of the communities where they live on Tuesday night and gave expression to the collective outrage being felt in the wake of a grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri on Monday.
Speaking out against police violence and a long pattern of injustice that the shooting death of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson has come to symbolize, organized marches took places in dozens of Americans cities where people expressed their solidarity with the Brown family and the people of Ferguson while saying the issues of racism, police brutality, and a broken justice system is impacting millions of people on a daily basis in America.
On the streets of Ferguson on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, protesters continue to challenge local riot police and National Guard soldiers called in by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, forty-four people were arrested overnight.
In addition to numerous smaller cities and communities, rallies and protests were held in Cleveland, New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington, DC and other major cities.
As the Associated Press reports, “For many, the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson recalled other troubling encounters with law enforcement. The refrain ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ became a rallying cry over police killings nationwide.”
Cleveland, Ohio: Protests break out in Cleveland over Tamir Rice shooting, Ferguson grand jury decision (Cleveland.com):
Several hundred people marched down a freeway ramp to block rush-hour traffic while protesting the Missouri developments and Saturday’s fatal shooting by an officer of 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland, who had a pellet gun that looked like a real firearm.
“The system wasn’t made to protect us,” said one of the protesters, 17-year-old Naesha Pierce. “To get justice, the people themselves have to be justice.”
New York, New York: Thousands Protesting Ferguson Decision Block Traffic in New York City (NY Times):
Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of New York City for the second night on Tuesday, chanting loudly and blocking traffic on some of Manhattan’s busiest streets to express outrage over the decision not to indict a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in the death of an unarmed black man.
The police said that some protesters had been arrested, though no figures were immediately available.
The protesters marched on Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, through Times Square and across the Manhattan Bridge, disrupting traffic along those routes and at the Lincoln Tunnel.
One group of protesters tried to cross the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn, but a wall of police stopped them, even as they tried to pull down a police barricade.
Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Protests Ferguson Decision: ‘Jesus Would Be Out Here With Us’ (Boston Globe):
Atlanta, Georgia: Atlanta police arrest 21 Ferguson demonstrators (Atlanta Journal Constitution):
Chicago, Illinois: City Hall sit-in morphs into march along Michigan Avenue (Chicago Tribune):
Hundreds of protesters marched Tuesday night through Downtown, chanting and making speeches over a loudspeaker about Ferguson, Mo., and Michael Brown, after spending much of the day hunkered down outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office.
The march, much of which took place along and near Michigan Avenue, began after police ordered protesters around 6:30 p.m. to leave Emanuel’s fifth-floor office in City Hall, where they had been participating in a planned 28-hour sit-in. The protesters dispersed about 10 p.m., police said.
“We left because we believe, and we know that the arrest of black bodies is not to be taken lightly,” said Charlene Carruthers of Black Youth Project 100, which organized the sit-in. “This is just one day, and we want to live to fight another day.”
Oakland, California: Ferguson protesters storm freeways again, some vandalism seen (San Jose Mercury News):
Washington, DC: Hundreds of Ferguson Protesters March in Downtown D.C. (Local NBC News 4):
Miami, Florida: In Miami, a small but passionate protest over Ferguson shooting (Miami Herald):
Los Angeles, California: Police arrest dozens to end Ferguson protests in downtown L.A. (LA Times):
Detroit, Michigan: Detroit marchers arrested in Ferguson demonstrations (Detroit Free Press):
