Protesters Cleared From I-880; Freeway Reopened

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Protesters were cleared from a busy highway early Friday after a night of protest in the streets of Oakland over the deaths of two black men shot by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.

A Sig-alert was canceled at 1:15 a.m., and both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway reopened, according to the CHP.

About 1,000 protesters had streamed up onto I-880 from a downtown Oakland exit at 8:38 p.m. and began blocking lanes. The highway was quickly blocked in both directions, stranding frustrated motorists.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, Texas, five officers were killed and six others were injured in an ambush, according to the Associated Press.

Protests demanding an end to police brutality erupted in cities across the country Thursday night following fatal police shootings that were captured on video and posted online, of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota this week.

Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said shortly after 10 p.m., "We are doubling up in police cars, and directing staff to key areas of the city."

As a precaution, San Jose police are also patrolling with two officers per car in reaction to what happened in Dallas.

Despite the violence against citizens this week and the violence against Dallas police officers Thursday night, the word "PEACEFUL" was trending hard on Twitter during the protests with over 132,000 tweets.

By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.

In:
• Protest
• Oakland
• Dallas