Baton Rouge is where Alton Sterling was shot and killed by a police officer this week.
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The gathering at the Triple S convenience store came after overnight demonstrations produced tense moments resulting in 30 arrests.
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Sterling’s death, which has angered many in the black community.
In New Orleans, several dozen protesters briefly lay down in front of the police headquarters in a symbolic die-in. Some drivers stopped by with bottles of water.
At one point police in riot gear came out to clear the road, as crowds of demonstrators yelled at them.
Packett told The Associated Press that Mckesson was taken into custody after a police officer approached him and said, “you with the loud shoes – if you step back into the street you’ll be arrested”. At one point numerous police cars, with their blue lights flashing, sped off down the street where a smaller group of protesters had walked.
Sterling was shoved, pushed and manhandled to the ground before officers brandished their weapons and shot him to death.
Activist Brittany Packett, who was with Mckesson, wrote in an email that he was on the highway shoulder when “multiple police crossed onto the shoulder, tackling Deray and arresting him”.
The list of those arrested released by the sheriff’s office included two homeless people, and 18 are from out of state, including Mckesson.
Video posted on Periscope shows footage taken by McKesson in the moments leading up to his arrest.
Mckesson was walking alongside Airline Highway when he was arrested.
On the video, Mckesson can be heard talking with fellow protesters and describing what he said was provocative police behavior against protesters.
As Hardman reports, “A spokesman for the state police said officers were only targeting protesters who were obstructing the road”. Police disproportionately target black men and 6 out of 10 black men say they have been treated unfairly by cops due to their race, according a 2015 study. The aftermath of each tragedy is emotionally draining as we mourn the loss of a life violently taken by the police, and as we reflect on how painfully familiar each killing becomes. “The protesters have not”.
“Police. You’re under arrest. Don’t fight me! Don’t fight me!”
Black Lives Matter is asking its supporters to join together at 6 p.m. ET at Make Shift Boston, “to mourn our lost, organize our people, and celebrate our resistance”.
Police also say a Molotov cocktail was thrown at officers.
A large presence of police officers stood guard on each street corner of the intersection where the protesters were. “I can’t say that I feel a certain way about a cause and not have my body out here representing for the community”, said Flint.
Three people – two from Baton Rouge and one from Humble, Texas – face a charge of inciting to riot, and four – all from the Baton Rouge area – face a charge of resisting arrest.
Then, by Sunday night, a few hundred people aimed for an on-ramp of Interstate 110 in Baton Rouge.
Police arrest protesters after dispersing crowds in a residential neighborhood in Baton Rouge, La. on Sunday, July 10, 2016. “They are so frustrated with this bull crap”. McMillon said she didn’t know Sterling to carry a gun and doesn’t believe he had one with him that night.
Sterling was fatally shot Tuesday during a struggle with two police officers outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“I’ve been in active in the community for years”. I know that it’s tough on them, but we are very grateful that they have played such a critical role throughout this process by insisting that we remain calm, that we remain peaceful, and that our actions be lawful, and by insisting that violence is not the answer.
Members of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defence called for the arrest of the officers involved in Mr Sterling’s death.
“These are human rights violations”, Krystal Muhammad shouted to the crowd at the convenience store before heading over to the police department. “They are not operating as human beings”.
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.
“We don’t need to go around here tearing up our communities”.
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Spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press that almost 100 people were taken to the parish jail in connection with protests that began late Saturday. “We just want peace”. And we definitely don’t want any of these folks tear gassed, stun gunned or getting shot in the process. “They seemed to be very organised and peaceful”, he said.
