|
 Across the other side of the country late on Monday, basketball
stars in New York including Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James
joined the protests by wearing shirts emblazoned with "I can't
breathe" -- the last words of Eric Garner, a black man who died
after a police chokehold.
Large crowds have demonstrated daily in several U.S. cities since a
grand jury decided last week not to bring criminal charges against a
white police officer over the death of Garner, an unarmed father of
six, in July.
The death of Garner and the police shooting of Michael Brown, an
unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri in August, have highlighted
strained relations between police and black Americans and rekindled
a national debate over race relations.
Several hundred people stormed onto Interstate 80 in the college
town of Berkeley near San Francisco on Monday night snarling traffic
in both directions.
Protesters threw rocks and other objects at officers, California
Highway Patrol spokesman Daniel Hill said. More than 150 people were
arrested, mostly for resisting or obstructing an officer, he added.
Earlier, dozens of protesters stopped an Amtrak train in the town by
lying on the tracks or sitting on a sofa placed across the line.
Outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a group of about 300
protesters blocked streets and chanted, "I can't breathe," in memory
of Garner, and "Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to Brown's
death.
In downtown Phoenix, about 200 protesters marched to police
headquarters over the killing of another unarmed black man by a
white officer in what authorities described as a struggle last week.
Protesters demanded that police release the name of the officer
involved in the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, a man
police suspected of selling drugs.
REVIEW OF POLICE KILLINGS
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday said he
was seeking the power to investigate all police killings of unarmed
civilians in the state.
[to top of second column] |
It remained unclear whether New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would
grant Schneiderman such powers. Like the Democratic mayor of New
York, Cuomo has tried to walk a fine line -- expressing concern
about the grand jury's decision not to charge an officer in Garner's
death while not alienating the police.
On Monday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, whose office is
investigating the Garner case, announced changes to federal law
enforcement guidelines intended to set an example for local police,
according to a Justice Department official.
In Cleveland, Samaria Rice, the mother of a 12-year-old
African-American boy shot dead by police in November, told reporters
she was seeking a conviction.
Her son, Tamir Rice, was shot near a recreation center while
carrying a pellet gun that was a replica of a real gun. The boy's
family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and
the two officers involved, one who shot Rice on Nov. 22 and one who
was driving the police car.
"Tamir was a bright child, he had a promising future and he was very
talented in all sports: soccer, basketball, football," Rice said.
"He was my baby."
(Additional reporting by Kim Palmer in Cleveland, Sebastien Malo in
Brooklyn, Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Curtis Skinner in Oakland,
and David Schwartz in Phoenix; Writing by Sharon Bernstein and
Curtis Skinner; Editing by Gareth Jones and Andrew Heavens)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
