Ferguson Protesters March From Union Square To Times Square
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Protests continued in New York and around the country Monday, over a grand jury's decision last week not to charge the police offer who fatally shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
A nationwide demonstration dubbed "#HandsUpWalkout" called on people to walk out of schools and businesses with their hands up at 1:01 p.m. (12:01 p.m. Central) -- the time when Brown was shot to death by former police officer Darren Wilson, who has resigned from the police force.
PHOTOS: Hands Up Walkout
Monday's walkouts stretched from New York to San Francisco, and included Chicago and Washington, D.C.
In New York, about 200 people gathered in Union Square and then marched to Times Square. They said they were demonstrating to demand justice for Brown -- as well as for Eric Garner on Staten Island, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
The protesters were seen carrying signs and chanting "hands up, don't shoot," "no justice, no peace," and "no racist police," WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
The protesters chanted and held up signs, and then lay down on the street.
"We're out here protesting, marching because we're tired of injustice," said demonstrator Jahniya Campbell of Brooklyn. "It doesn't matter if you're black, white. It doesn't matter what your gender is. If you believe in humanity, if you believe in righteousness, you should be out here."
Many of the participants are high school and college students, Diamond reported.
There was a large police presence at the park where protesters shared the space with the green market and holiday bazaar, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.
The protesters said they do not believe the claims that Wilson was in fear for his life when he shot and killed Brown.
"I looked at the facts, and I read his statement, and that was written by a lawyer," said a demonstrator holding a cardboard sign. "No, I don't believe Darren Wilson's statement."
Protesters eventually left the park, disrupting traffic occasionally as they made their way up the East Side and then west to Times Square, Jones reported. The protesters then continued up Ninth Avenue, and down again before returning to Times Square, where a huge World AIDS Day concert was planned for Monday evening.
They were followed by a band of police officers on motorcycles.
Protesters in New York were also waiting on a Staten Island grand jury's decision on the Garner case.
Garner died after police put him in an apparent chokehold in Tompkinsville, Staten Island, this past summer. They had been trying to arrest him for illegally selling loose cigarettes.
"The message is we want justice for people who don't get justice, like you kill an innocent civilian, that person deserves justice. That family deserves justice -- not for the cop to walk away," a demonstrator said.
As of late Monday afternoon, the demonstration has remained mostly peaceful.
There were at least a few arrests, Diamond reported. Police sources said some people were arrested for disorderly conduct.
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