Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Protests Against Ferguson Outcome Continue for 2nd Day
A solidarity demonstration with Ferguson in Washington, D.C.
A day after the grand jury decision clearing Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Mike Brown, vast demonstrations by thousands of people stretched far beyond the small St. Louis suburb and included dramatic and even dangerous incidents.

From New York, where protesters blocked a tunnel entrance to neighboring New Jersey, to smaller towns like Topeka, Kan., where they staged a protest on the state capital steps, the outrage was heated and consistent. However, the protests remained largely peaceful.

MINNEAPOLIS

Two rallies to demonstrate against the grand jury's decision in Ferguson, Missouri, drew several hundred people on Tuesday. But a scary moment took place when a car struck one protester and then burst through a pack of other protesters when they quickly surrounded it.

Police said a woman suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Footage from a KSTP-TV news helicopter appeared to show at least one person being driven over as the car left the scene near the city's 3rd Precinct police station.

The driver called police soon after to report the incident, and police spokesman Scott Seroka said no one was arrested.

NEW YORK

Demonstrators faced off with police, shutting down an entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel as they attempted to march through. Police blocked the protesters at 41st Street and Eleventh Avenue, and traffic was left at a standstill.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said earlier that he thought the protests were going well. He said the NYPD was giving protesters "breathing room" to express their outrage. He said as long as protesters remain nonviolent and don't cause vandalism, they can demonstrate.

NEWARK

Several hundred protesters marched through the streets of New Jersey's largest city to protest the Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury decision.

Activists from the People's Organization For Progress led the peaceful march through Newark on Tuesday night. It followed a rally at the city's Lincoln monument. Police cleared the streets of cars along the route so the protesters could pass.

BOSTON

Several hundred people have gathered in Boston to protest a grand jury's decision not to indict a white Ferguson, Missouri, officer who killed a black teenager.

One group marched from Dudley Square in the Roxbury neighborhood down Massachusetts Avenue to the South Bay area. State police blocked a ramp leading to Interstate 93 to prevent the group from attempting to go on the highway.

Dozens of political, religious and community leaders in Boston have signed on to a statement calling for unity and peaceful demonstrations in response to a grand jury's decision not to indict a Missouri police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

The statement released by Mayor Martin Walsh's office also called for a meaningful discussion of racial disparities that will lead to lasting change. It came in advance of a community meeting held Tuesday night at the Twelfth Baptist Church in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.

Walsh and Gov.-elect Charlie Baker were among those who attended the forum. Earlier Tuesday in Worcester, a group of Clark University students and others protesting the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown case forced police to briefly re-route traffic on Main Street.

LOS ANGELES

A few hundred protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles again to demonstrate against a grand jury's decision in a Missouri police shooting, engaging police in a standoff at a freeway ramp and surrounding a California Highway Patrol car in a tense scene in South Los Angeles.

The protesters Tuesday evening marched to the edge of Interstate 110, a freeway they blocked Monday night, but turned around after facing off with rows of police. Shortly after a group of several dozen protesters surrounded the CHP car, with some jumping on the vehicle and draping a flag over it before other officers arrived at the scene and helped the car leave the area.

Police Chief Charlie Beck says only three people were arrested in protests across the city following the Ferguson announcement. He said there were no injuries and no property damage during hours-long demonstrations.

HOUSTON

About 100 demonstrators chanting demonstrators marched in the streets near the University of Houston campus.

The demonstrators marched along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard south of downtown Houston, occasionally blocking traffic along the busy street Tuesday afternoon. Police say that despite occasional traffic disruptions, the demonstration was peaceful.

OAKLAND

The city became a focal point of spin-off protests nationwide when hundreds of demonstrators shut down part of a major freeway, hurled bottles at police, broke merchants' windows and set small fires.

At least 40 people were arrested in the melee that escalated after some protesters shut down traffic on a major highway in the San Francisco Bay Area. A police spokeswoman said several officers were injured, but she did not elaborate.

ST. LOUIS

About 20 minutes away from Ferguson, protesters disrupted downtown traffic for several hours by blocking major intersections, an interstate highway and a Mississippi River bridge connecting the city to Illinois.

Riot police arrested several demonstrators who sat in the middle of Interstate 44 near the Edward Jones Dome. They used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Demonstrators also swarmed the steps of the federal courthouse, overturning barricades while chanting, "You didn't indict. We shall fight."

SEATTLE

Hundreds of high school students walked out of classes and rallied at the University of Washington or marched to the downtown federal courthouse.

The protest came a day after demonstrators threw canned food, bottles and rocks, and police responded with pepper spray and flash-bang grenades. Five people were arrested. Demonstrators included the rapper Macklemore.

Several hundred people marched down a freeway exit ramp to block rush-hour traffic while protesting the Missouri developments and Saturday's fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy by an officer.

"The system wasn't made to protect us," said one of the protesters, 17-year-old Naesha Pierce, who stayed up until 3 a.m. watching television coverage from Ferguson. "To get justice, the people themselves have to be justice."

Police diverted traffic but took no action against the protesters as they sat in a major intersection.

They were demonstrating after the death of Tamir Rice, who was shot when police responded to a 911 call about a gun at a playground. Police later determined the boy had a pellet gun that looked like a real firearm.

CHICAGO

Dozens of Chicago protesters upset with developments in the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting case are camped out at the doors of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office inside City Hall. They staged a protest Tuesday, chanting slogans demanding justice over what they describe as unjustified police violence against black youth in Chicago.

They plan to remain at City Hall throughout the day and overnight. They are holding teach-ins on political issues and healing circles for people to discuss experiences with violence in Chicago.

TOPEKA, Kan.

About 50 people holding signs turned up at the state Capitol in Topeka on Tuesday evening for a peaceful rally. A half-hour before the scheduled start, two protesters were shooed from the Statehouse steps and told they had to hold their rally on the sidewalk.

A similar number showed up at a Wichita church in response to the grand jury's decision Monday.

At the University of Kansas in Lawrence, more than 80 students, faculty and community members also protested the decision.

WASHINGTON

On Tuesday, about 300 people marched on Massachusetts Avenue from Mount Vernon Square.

One group lay on the ground to stage a "die-in" in front of Metro police headquarters. The group planned to occupy various buildings in the district over 28 hours, which protesters say is the amount of time that elapses before a black male is shot by police.

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