Dallas Protests In Response To Garner Death
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Protesters blocked traffic in several cities on Thursday night, including Dallas, during a second night of demonstrations over the death of Eric Garner. The protests came after Wednesday's grand jury decision to not indict a white New York police officer in the apparent chokehold death of Garner, an unarmed black man.
Some of the protesters scuffled with police in Times Square, and several arrests were made. Another group in New York marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. And similar scenes played out in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis and even in North Texas.
Demonstrators forced officials to shut down a highway on Thursday night. An estimated 200 protesters gathered at the Dallas Police Department's headquarters and walked for several hours. Police officers followed behind them to keep the traffic going.
The group marched through downtown Dallas holding signs and chanting, "No justice! No peace!"
But some of the marchers laid down in the middle of the street in an attempt to block the roadways. Those people were quickly handcuffed. At least four people were taken into custody and charged with obstructing a highway. The arrested individuals have been identified by police as 21-year-old Kelly Argueta, 24-year-old Lauren Yousef, 30-year-old Melissa Perry and 30-year-old Candice Robinson.
An even larger crowd -- around 400 people -- is expected to gather at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night. And another group is also planning to protest in Arlington on Saturday.
The demonstrators stated that it is important to speak up about what happened to Garner and other African Americans who are killed by police officers. But they encourage peace, especially within the larger crowds.
"I don't want to be against the police," said Dominique Alexander, president of Next Generation Action Network. "They do a lot of good things. The majority of them, this is not a problem. I remember an old saying, one bad apple spoils the rest of the bunch."
Alexander said that his uncle was killed by police officers several years ago. "I'm losing people in my family. People are losing people," he said. "It's very personal. It brings me to tears just knowing this is happening over and over again, and no one is answering."
The Dallas Police Department does plan to be present during the Friday night protest, but no details have been offered about any kind of increased enforcement efforts.
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