More than a dozen demonstrators were apprehended in New York City Wednesday night during a series of protests against police brutality.
Groups gathered in Washington Square Park in the early evening before splitting off and heading in different directions. Some ended in Times Square,others took over the first floor of the Macy's department store in Herald Square. The demonstrators waved yellow flags with black fists on them, chanting the slogan "While you're buying, or kids are dying" while walking past perfume counters. Organizers say more than 1000 people came out to display support.
Fourteen people were handcuffed before being given summonses for disorderly conduct and other minor offenses,apolice spokesman said. One of the protesters taken into custody was Akeem Browder, brother of Kalief Browder who committed suicide after spending three years in custody awaiting trial. Organizers told WNYC Radio Akeem Browder has become increasingly active in the struggle to reform the jail at Rikers Island since the death of his brother.
The protests, and part of the Black Lives Matter movement,were in response to the release of a video of a Chicago police man who shot a balck man final year, and the shooting, or allegedly by three white men,of five demonstrators who were protesting police violence in Minneapolis earlier this week. UPDATE: This post was updated at 5 p.m., Nov. 26, and 2015,to reflect the latest information from police on the number of summonses issued.
Source: wnyc.org