Alwaght- A wave of peaceful protests, aimed at denouncing police violence, swept across the US on Saturday, with the number of protesters peaking in Los Angeles, where there were over 5,000 in the 'Millions March for First Amendment Rights', Russia Today reported .
“Hands up, don’t shoot”, “Black lives matter” and “No justice, no peace,” – these mottos united demonstrations that took place in several major American cities – Los Angeles, New York and Ferguson, where there have been several cases of fatal shooting by the police .
The protesters were calling for justice for those killed by police – Michael Brown (Ferguson) and Eric Garner (New York), as well as Ezell Ford and Omar Abrego (both from Los Angeles) among them .
“Every 28 hours a person is killed in America by a police officer or authority figure or vigilante, and nothing stops for them,” Kirbie Joseph, an organizer of the march in New York, told The New York Times. “Everything goes business as usual, and so we can’t stop .”
In Los Angeles, over 5,000 activists, students and even celebrities participated, making police shut down streets on the proposed route of the march, as a safety measure. The protest was peaceful and no arrests were made, but a car hit a demonstrator, according to RT’s RUPTLY video agency. Twitter users reported the protester didn’t require medical aid .
We are not in any way, shape or form attempting to antagonize or to create some type of division between us and the police, but rather to highlight the things we feel have been done unjustly,” student Keshad Adeniyi told CBS2/KCAL9 TV station .
