US Protests against Racism Continue in Washington + Photos
WASHINGTON, DC (Tasnim) – Dozens of protesters braved heavy rain and took to the streets in the US capital on Saturday evening to voice their outrage over police brutality against people of color.
According to Tasnim dispatches, the US demonstrators staged the rally at a train station in Washington DC.
The rally at first led to heavy traffic in the surrounding streets and the issue was followed by police intervention. The downpour forced the protesters to continue their demonstration inside the train station.
The protesters chanted slogans such as “we cannot breathe” referring to a chokehold death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer who had stopped him on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on July 17.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, a protester described the demonstration as peaceful and said, “In case of police violence we will defend ourselves.”
Protests have been held in different US cities after a grand jury decided not to indict the white police officer who killed Garner.
The decision not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo threatened to add to the tensions that have simmered in New York City since Garner's death.
The death case drew comparisons to the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, another unarmed black man, in Missouri, which prompted violent protests.
As with Brown's death in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, the Garner case sparked accusations of racist policing and calls for federal prosecutors to intervene.
The developments in the Garner case came just a week after a grand jury in St Louis decided not to indict the white police officer who shot Brown.
