'I Can't Breathe' Protests, Oscar Grant Memorial Planned In Bay Area For New Year's Eve
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - Not everyone will be counting down to a midnight celebration in the Bay Area Wednesday night.
Several groups plan to use the date to protest police shootings, including the death of Oscar Grant III in the early hours of January 1st, 2009 on an Oakland BART platform.
IndyBay.org reports that people are encouraged to bring photos of loved ones killed by police to a gathering at the Fruitvale Station beginning at midnight. Grants family and the director of the 'Fruitvale Station' film about the incident are listed as attendees for the three hour memorial marking the sixth anniversary of his death.
That event will include live performances, a candle lighting and memorial balloon release.
Earlier in Oakland, a #BlackLivesMatter event is planned at Broadway and 14th Street, where a "New Year's Eve noise demo" is planned to in support of national protests stemming from the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.
"The people of Ferguson are an inspiration to us all and their actions have sparked an unstoppable movement that has now spread nation wide," reads a post promoting the 9 p.m. event.
Organizers say they want chargers dropped against people who have been jailed as a result of Bay Area police brutality protest and vandalism.
Elsewhere, protests in solidarity with the national 'I can't breathe' movement denouncing the death of Eric Garner in New York police custody.
"As the clock winds down on 2014, the powers that be will hope to be ringing in a new year that carries forward business as usual. That must not be allowed," reads a Facebook post promoting a 9 p.m. protest at the Embarcadero BART station. As of noon only 34 people had confirmed their intention to attend that event.
