Ferguson solidarity protests erupt in South, Midwest
For a second day, protesters turned out in cities across the U.S. -- from Nashville to Minneapolis to Boston -- in a sign of solidarity Tuesday for demonstrators in Missouri angered by a grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting case.
In many of the demonstrations, protesters briefly shut down major thoroughfares.
Some of the worst violence appeared to be in Oakland, where hundreds of protesters vandalized police cars and smashed windows in numerous businesses.
The crowd shut down two major freeways, and set several trash bins on fire across a major street before police in riot helmets forced them to disperse.
At a rally in Minneapolis, a car struck a protester and then burst through a pack of others who surrounded it. A woman suffered minor injuries.
As the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter trended on Twitter, anger, frustration and sadness colored demonstrations in Seattle, Nashville and Knoxville, Tenn., Asheville and Greenville, N.C., Cincinnati, Detroit, New York.
The demonstrations first erupted Monday night in Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury decided not to indict police Officer Darren Wilson in the August death of an 18-year-old black teenager.
Many of the demonstrators spread their message through social media, particularly the hashtag #ShutItDown, which was trending on Twitter early Wednesday morning.
In Boston, thousands of protesters held up signs in the streets during a protest rally, according to tweets from WBZ TV reporter Christina Hager. One sign visible in a photo that she tweeted read, "Cops kill kids."
In New York, protesters blocked the Lincoln Tunnel and the FDR Drive, a major highway on Manhattan's East Side. Local news media reported crowds were making their way up Broadway in Manhattan and that a crowd was blocking the West Side Highway.
Commissioner William Bratton said police were giving protesters "breathing room."
"As long as they remain nonviolent, and as long as they don't engage in issues that cause fear or create vandalism, we will work with them to allow them to demonstrate," he said.
In Cleveland, where some residents also were questioning the shooting death by police of a 12-year-old boy over the weekend, police took a hands-off approach as protesters spilled onto the Shoreway as the evening commute began to pick up. More than 250 people who'd marched from downtown's Public Square carried signs and blocked the highway for about 30-45 minutes.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told WKYC that the agency "would let the protest play out."
Cuyahoga County Sheriff Frank Bova echoed the police chief, saying, "We're allowing them their constitutional right to protest."
In Cincinnati, more than a dozen people were arrested as a group of 85 to 100 protesters blocked I-75. The gathering started peacefully, as Mayor John Cranley and Bishop Bobby Hilton addressed a crowd from the steps of the federal courthouse downtown. But afterward, the crowd marched through downtown and headed into oncoming traffic, eventually scaling barriers and emerging on the highway, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In Seattle, high school students and community members took part in a march organized by the NAACP and a group called United Black Clergy in the city's Central District and continued to a federal courthouse downtown. The high school students joined the march as it made its way toward downtown and Seattle Schools reported that about 1,000 students walked out of classes. Protesters chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot," as they marched through the streets. The group's message: Racial profiling must end regardless of the grand jury decision.
In demonstrations in the South, police arrested 21 people in Atlanta after demonstrators blocked the Downtown Connector. The group later walked through town and onto Atlanta's Peachtree Street. A protester, who was arrested, threw a road flare, injuring a Georgia State Patrol trooper, authorities told WXIA.
In Nashville, protesters marched from police headquarters into the heart of the entertainment district, shutting down a major intersection. Tourists looked befuddled as marchers passed and shoppers came out of stores to watch. "Hands up, don't shoot," the protesters shouted.
In Houston, protesters blocked streets and held up signs, based on images sent out by Twitter users. In one photo, a young black man held up a sign that reads, "This is not about the alleged stealing of cigars," an apparent reference to allegations that Michael Brown stole cigars before the altercation with Darren Wilson Ferguson. "This is about the loss of life in a system that habitually criminalizes and kills black people."
In Burlington, Vt., a crowd chanted for justice and decried racism in the darkness on a downtown street Tuesday night, the Burlington Free Press reported.
Contributing: Associated Press