Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who called the press conference, said most protests had been peaceful – with most arrests for minor offenses – and blamed outside agitators for incitements to violence.
Advertisement
Demonstrators protest the shooting death of Alton Sterling near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday. Police said they also confiscated three rifles, three shotguns and two pistols as a result of arrests, but they did not have information about whether those people are facing illegal firearm charges.
Thousands of demonstrators have flooded the streets of major US cities throughout the weekend, protesting the recent killings by police of two black men, Philando Castile in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana earlier this week. Other protestors continued to Periscope Mckesson’s arrest and discuss what had just happened for 10 minutes after the incident. Officers told protesters to stay on the grass and not on the road.
After another night of intense, and sometimes violent, protests against the police shootings of black men, hundreds of demonstrators were either in jail or waiting to get out Sunday.
This is the fifth night of protests in Baton Rouge where there is not just anger, there is rage.
“Don’t fight me. Don’t fight me”, the officer said, according to NBC.
While numerous demonstrations remained peaceful, scuffles broke out overnight Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota, where protesters clashed with police on Interstate 94.
Luckily no one else died during the protest and unconstitutional rounding up of protesters by police, but this is not at all the way our Democracy should be functioning.
A portion of Government Street in downtown Baton Rouge remains closed after a group held an “unlawful protest” following a peace march that was held at the Louisiana State Capitol. Some drivers stopped by with bottles of water.
Police used crowd control measures including smoke, police spokesman Steve Linders said, and fired marking rounds similar to paintball rounds.
Local reporters have also been arrested and are likely among the 100 arrests police made, according to official estimates. “The police in Baton Rouge have been truly terrible tonight”, he said.
Edwards also said it is critical for people attending protests to follow the directions of law enforcement officers.
One man in attendance, named Banditsu, told CNN: “Black lives matter, I’m exhausted of seeing my brothers and sisters becoming a hashtag”.
Philly.com reports (http://bit.ly/29pHEkY) protesters yelled expletives at police and walked to within inches of some. But Montgomery said he also doesn’t want anyone to get hurt in the protests. “But there is unity in recognising this is not how we want our communities to operate”.
But there’s really only one way to stop the killing and it lies in changing our culture, beginning with recognizing every single person’s humanity – the black youth’s, the white officer’s, and every other in between.
Advertisement
The gathering, across from the City and County Building, began Thursday afternoon, several hours before police officers were killed in Dallas. However, the arrest has further fueled online outrage from an already tense week of gun violence and protests.
