Shelby Rushing
The Paw Print
In Los Angeles, marchers arrived at the intersection where Ezell Ford was killed on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles. Ford, 25, who had been diagnosed with depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was allegedly unarmed when shot and killed by police on Aug. 11 2014.
This protest was just an example of the many that resulted after grand juries who investigated the deaths of Michal Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York, failed to charge the police officers involved in both incidents. Protests over the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner turned brutal in California after demonstrators threw “concrete objects,” attempted to set fire to a patrol car, and blocked a freeway, authorities said. Officers used tear gas for the period of protests, involving as many as 500 people marching from Berkeley toward Oakland.
The demonstrators, many of whom were peaceful, chanted: “Turn it up, don’t turn it down. Shut it down for Michael Brown,” the name of the unarmed African-American teen who was fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.
The march began at the University of California, Berkeley and Chancellor Nick Dirks called on students and staff to “help maintain calm on and around the campus.” Dirks said he hoped that “the anger expressed last night will, in the days ahead, be channeled into constructive, nonviolent action.”
However, that has not been the case. As hundreds of protesters began marching through downtown Berkeley, the turbulence that marked protests Saturday night was touched off again as someone smashed the window of a Radio Shack. When a protester tried to stop growing vandalism, he was hit with a hammer. Police said groups of protesters late Sunday began wandering through the downtown area, throwing trash cans into streets and lighting garbage on fire, smashing windows on buildings, and damaging and looting businesses. There also were reports of vandalism at City Hall. There was no pressing word of any serious injuries. During the protests a day earlier, three police officers and a technician were hurt and six people were arrested when the protest turned uncontrollable. Other cities around the nation have also had run-ins with the protests. Nearly 200 protesters and clergy members staged a “die-in” outside the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, following the Philadelphia Eagles’ NFL game against the Seattle.
In Chicago, there seemed to be a more positive protest. Close to 100 churches organized peaceful rallies throughout the day. The protests have also spread to South Florida. In Miami, protesters marched onto Interstate 195, shutting down the road in both directions. Even in Anchorage, Alaska protesters rallied, holding signs on snow-covered through streets. These are just a few protest events of many that have been echoing across the country in the past week.
This nationwide protest doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, which concerns many members of the police force. Some protests have been violent, especially in Ferguson, but for the most part, cities have done a respectable job at holding entirely peaceful demonstrations.
We will see what the next few days have in store for us and hopefully there will be a solution for the angry protestors.
What’s Been Said…