Demonstrators in Oakland, Calif., chained themselves together in front of the police headquarters on Monday in protest of the recent police killings of unarmed Black men. One protester climbed a pole to hang a “Black Lives Matter” banner in front of the building.
The rash of protests following the death of Michael Brown in August has not lost its momentum. Protesters have gone to the streets and used social media to make their “voices” heard. In addition to the spontaneous protests, organized rallies like the #Justice4All march in Washington D.C. on Saturday drew more than 10,000 protesters, according to USA Today. Medical students across the country organized a nationwide “die-in” under the hashtag #WhiteCoats4BlackLives.
The protesters in Oakland are continuing that city’s long history of demonstrations advocating for the Black community.
On Saturday, around 3,000 people held a peaceful march in downtown Oakland. After the conclusion of the rally, police arrested 45 people for vandalism, resisting arrest and failure to disperse. The Oakland police arrested 25 people Monday afternoon for obstructing and blocking a public safety building, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The police used cutters to break the chains of the protesters and remove them from blocking the headquarters.
Another group of protesters linked themselves together to block the intersection of Broadway and 7th Street, and they blocked off access to the Interstate 880 ramp at Broadway.
The Bay Area Solidarity Action Team (BASAT) said that the 4-hour, 28-minute blockade of the police headquarters was a demand for “an end to racist violence against the Black community.”
The four hours symbolized how long Michael Brown’s body was in the street after he was shot by police. The 28 minutes represented how often a Black person is killed by law enforcement, according to the BASAT statement.
