Oakland protesters expressed their anger at the grand jury decision to not indict Ferguson, Missouri police Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by marching onto westbound Interstate 580, bringing traffic to a halt.
The incident occurred on Monday around 9:45 p.m. and led to the arrest of several protesters. The protest escalated into a riot when a bank window was smashed, a police car was spray-painted and a news van was vandalized.
Other protesters at 14th Street and Broadway participated in a “die-in,” by lying on the ground for a period of time and then got up and journeyed to the Oakland police headquarters at 7th Street and Broadway to stage another one.
The Contra Costa Times reported that Troy Garvey who lost his brother by a gunshot from a San Francisco police officer in October remarked, “I lost my brother a month ago at the hands of a cop. I’m out here fighting for his justice.” Garvey said that he wasn’t surprised by the decision but was, nevertheless, shocked by the announcement.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, expressed disappointment with the decision and asked for people to be peaceful: “My heart continues to go out to Michael Brown’s family and community. Like everyone in our community, I am devastated by the senseless murder of yet another young black man,” she said.
“The deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant, one of my constituents, serve as tragic examples of the senseless murder of young African American men.”
Lee assessed the verdict as more racial bias, which she considers to be ‘systemic, structural and rampant” within the justice system.
One side of freeway is still blocked. Other side is just beginning to move. #Ferguson #Oakland #FTP pic.twitter.com/WzsoNWwf7D
— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) November 25, 2014
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