News / Society

Protesters echo Martin Luther King's call for justice

Monday, 19 January 2015 1:36 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 19 January 2015 2:12 PM ]

Protesters face police in a march against police violence in Oakland, California on Sunday, January 18, 2015.

Hundreds of protesters rallied for a second day of Martin Luther King marches against the shooting deaths of black men by white police officers in Missouri and New York.

Oakland police Spokeswoman Johnna Watson said police “facilitated” the nonviolent march on Sunday evening from downtown to a transit station in Oakland, California.

However, police arrested four people during the marches honoring the MLK’s call for justice.

SF Gate reported large police presence at the march.

By 9 pm, when the crowd had shrunk to about 15 to 20 people, police issued a crowd dispersal order, then started to arrest people for obstructing traffic.

The protesters were arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer, and another 17 received citations for other violations, Watson said.

A marcher from Alameda told SF Gate she thought King would approve of the march. “I think he’d be happy to see the young people here speaking up for themselves and defending themselves.”

“I’m here to support the black community,” said another protester who said he was a Berkeley resident. “I’d like the local government and the national government to do something about the disparities in the way black people are treated. The best way to do that right now is coming out into the streets, because they don’t seem to be listening.”

Other marches were also reported across the San Francisco Bay Area, including at a Wallmart parking lot, in front of Oakland Police Department, at the Bay Street mall in Emeryville, and in a San Francisco Powell Street cable car.

Four people were also arrested on the first day of the marches on Saturday in a peaceful demonstration.

The marches were part of the San Francisco Bay area events planned over the weekends to honor the civil rights leader and to demonstrate against police brutality and race relations in the United States.

AN/HRJ

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