Protesters Chanting 'Black Lives Matter' Converge In Inglewood, Snarling Traffic
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Several hundred protesters converged in Inglewood Sunday night, marching through streets, and eventually blocking a busy thoroughfare for a brief time.
Dozens of demonstrators, some with Black Lives Matter, blocked both sides of the 405 Freeway at Manchester Avenue before patrol units with the California Highway Patrol arrived and had them vacate the roadway.
From there, some converged on the La Cienega Boulevard on-ramp, before returning to Manchester Avenue near the iconic Randy's Donuts, where they formed a giant peace sign.
Earlier in the night, the protesters reportedly passed by Inglewood City Hall and the police department during the peaceful march, chanting "black lives matter," and "no justice, no peace."
"We're here tonight because several things have been transpiring in the news and a lot of times we just sit on social media and complain about it," said Angelo Valentin, a protester. "It's time to step up and do some action."
The crowd began to disperse around 11 p.m., though about 150 protesters remained at the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Manchester Avenue, where they were blocking the roadway.
Visibly absent was a large police presence, though some officers were on-scene to provide traffic control.
"We routed Forum traffic south on Prairie, east on Manchester and we determined that we would let them occupy the intersection to make their statement and have a peaceful resolution," James Butts, Jr., the mayor of Inglewood, told CBS Los Angeles.
The mayor said they had expected a meeting of about 25 members of the Black Lives Matter group.
But, he said, they were not expecting the crowd of approximately 1,000 people.
"Once we ascertained that there were that many people, we put into effect contingency plans," he said.
No arrests were made, nor injuries reported.