Hundreds resume demonstrations at scene of Louisiana death

Associated Press

Published Saturday, July 9, 2016 | 7:39 p.m.

Updated Saturday, July 9, 2016 | 11:16 p.m.

A look at protests and related events nationwide Saturday following the police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, and the deadly sniper attack on police officers in Dallas.

MINNESOTA

Police have used smoke bombs to clear demonstrators blocking Interstate 94 in St. Paul during a protest sparked by the recent police killings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.

The smoke was used just after midnight Saturday when about 200 protesters were in the roadway as police in riot gear slowly moved in.

Police said several officers have been injured by rocks, firecrackers and other debris thrown by protesters.

A leader on a loudspeaker urged the group to march to the governor's mansion, where protesters have gathered since the fatal police shooting Wednesday night of Philando Castile. The 32-year-old black man was shot during a traffic stop in suburban St. Paul.

The St. Paul Police Department tweeted that arrests were made during the protest but didn't indicate how many.

LOUISIANA

Louisiana authorities say prominent Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson has been arrested during a protest in Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Cpl. L'Jean McKneely tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/29wr054) that McKesson was arrested Saturday night.

The Advocate says McKesson was filming live video of the protest and walking alongside Airline Highway when he was arrested. It wasn't immediately clear why McKesson was arrested.

Protesters were demonstrating against the shooting death Tuesday of 37-year-old Alton Sterling.

McKesson is one of the most recognizable faces to emerge from the Black Lives Matter movement. The former educator built a national following after he left his then-home and job in Minneapolis in August 2014 for Ferguson, Missouri, to document the rising anger over race relations after the police shooting of Michael Brown.

CALIFORNIA

Several hundred protesters outraged by the police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota took to the streets of San Francisco, blocking several roads and ramps to get on and off the Bay Bridge.

The California Highway Patrol closed access to the bridge at least two times Saturday afternoon when protesters took over freeway ramps, causing traffic to back up.

The group began marching from the city's Hall of Justice to the downtown shopping area, causing a temporary shutdown of a popular mall as the crowd gathered there to chant slogans and make speeches.

In central California, several hundred protesters blocked several intersections as they marched against police brutality in central Fresno. Officers in riot gear blocked an on-ramp to keep the protesters from entering State Route 41.

COLORADO

Black Lives Matter supporters said they plan to continue a sit-in in Denver in response to the police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana through Tuesday for a total of 135 hours. That's an hour for each of the black people they say have been killed by police across the country this year.

The gathering, across from the City and County Building, began Thursday afternoon, several hours before police officers were killed in Dallas.

People have been dropping off food and water for those camped out on chairs and blankets in Civic Center Park.

FLORIDA

Hundreds of people marched in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in demonstrations that ended peacefully.

Protesters in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday chanted "No justice, no peace" and "Hands up, don't shoot." At one point the protest stopped outside a Broward County jail and prisoners banged on windows in support.

The demonstrations came after police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, and the deadly sniper attack on police officers in Dallas.

A Palm Beach Post reporter tweeted a photo of a protester shaking a police officer's hand as the West Palm Beach protest disbursed.

A third protest was planned in Miami on Saturday evening.

NEW YORK

Hundreds of people have marched in New York City to protest police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.

The protesters chanted "Black lives matter" and "No justice, no peace" as they marched through Manhattan on Saturday. As many as 1,000 people joined the protest, but many left when it started raining.

Police officers marched alongside the protesters and tried to keep them on the sidewalk. A police spokesman said there were at least 20 arrests.

Protester Cynthia Howell said she is not against the police but she wants to see accountability.

Howell is a niece of Alberta Spruill, who died of a heart attack in 2003 after police threw a concussion grenade into her Harlem apartment.

Howell said officers who do "reckless, dangerous things" must be held accountable.

PENNSYLVANIA

Angry protesters in Philadelphia marched to two police precincts in the northern part of the city, facing off with police officers who kept calm as demonstrators shouted slogans and sometimes taunted them.

Hundreds of people took part in Saturday's six-hour march, which attracted a multiracial, multi-ethnic crowd upset over the fatal shooting of black men. They sought to shut down police activity and traffic in the precincts as part of what they proclaimed a "weekend of rage."

Philly.com reports (http://bit.ly/29pHEkY) protesters yelled expletives at police and walked to within inches of some. "Without the uniform and badge, you are just like us," one protester told a black officer.

In Pittsburgh Saturday, several hundred people broke off from the city's 200th anniversary parade to protest recent police shootings across the country. Some were affiliated with Black Lives Matter.

They marched from Point State Park on Saturday afternoon to the county courthouse.

RHODE ISLAND

More than 150 people gathered in downtown Newport in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after a week of violence across the nation.

The Providence Journal reports the group marched on Saturday afternoon to call for changes after the police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota this week.

Speakers urged the crowd to get involved in grassroots efforts to improve law enforcement across the country.

Seneca Pender of Middletown organized the rally. He told the crowd that the senseless killings of black people "have to stop."

Pender also thanked law enforcement officers who provided security at the rally in Newport and denounced the deadly attack Thursday on police officers at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas that left five officers dead.

UTAH

Protesters who support the Black Lives Matter movement rallied in Salt Lake City, with some saying they grieved both the losses of the black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and fallen Dallas police officers.

"The answer to guns is not more guns," said Deyvid Morales, who directed the protest Saturday, told the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/29vvYAl.) "The answer to stop this violence is to peacefully talk things out, to come together as a community. ... We just want peace."

Two black women and one Latina spoke at the rally, expressing fear for loved ones and themselves in dealings with police.

"It's terrifying to be the mother of a black child," Jessica Lee said. "Speaking from personal experience, it is terrifying to know that next year my son is going to be out driving, so I constantly have to grill him on things — what to say, what not to say."

The protesters included Carl Moore of Orem. He did a dance in traditional Native American clothing. The dance was a tribute to the human race, he said.

"When I see this 'All Lives Matter,' what it does is it dilutes the situation," Moore said. "What we're doing right now is Black Lives Matter."