Black Lives Matter protesters blocked police vehicles as they marched through the streets in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black woman by an officer.
The activists surrounded patrol cars and held banners next to their windows so the officers could not observe the marchers. “You had a chance to move, buddy. You took too long, sorry,” a woman was heard saying on a video from the scene. Others chanted, “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace!”
Protesters block a police car from viewing the march, putting up banners and informing the officer he should’ve moved sooner #AnnArborProtests#AnnArborpic.twitter.com/k6khHzZTlR
Police cars are blocked from viewing the march by protesters with banners patrolling the perimeter #AnnArbor#AnnArborProtestspic.twitter.com/2SgXwisBCe
Protesters beat drums and carried Black Lives Matter and LGBT flags as they marched through the University of Michigan campus and the city streets. They demanded that authorities “disarm, defund, abolish the police,” while some shouted “F**k the police.”
“Disarm, defund, abolish the police!” Protesters chant as they march through downtown Ann Arbor #AnnArborProtests#AnnArborpic.twitter.com/hPZuTtPSOB
Protesters march past cop cars in Ann Arbor, hundreds out in the streets for Black Lives Matter and Aura Rosser #AnnArbor#AnnArborProtestspic.twitter.com/8R9biXYHyc
The activists also chanted “out of the restaurants, and into the streets!” when they passed by outdoor diners. Some of the people at the tables raised their fists in solidarity.
“Out of the restaurants, and into the streets!” Protesters chant as they march past diners at outdoor patios in Ann Arbor #AnnArborProtests#AnnArborpic.twitter.com/WqVjVafQ2x
Diners put their fists up for Black Lives Matter as a large group of protesters marches by #AnnArborProtests#AnnArbor#BlackLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/ylYKBj7K2y
The march was held in honor of Aura Rosser, a 40-year-old black woman who was fatally shot in Ann Arbor by a police officer in 2014. Police said that Rosser, who was suffering from a mental illness, “confronted” an officer with a knife when he was responding to a domestic dispute between Rosser and her boyfriend inside a home.
After investigating the incident, officials ruled that the officer was acting in lawful self-defense, and did not charge him. However, according to local media, Rosser’s family and activists have been arguing Rosser did not pose any danger and that the police did not do enough to defuse the situation.
Anti-police-brutality protests have intensified in the US after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Some of the rallies were followed by rioting and looting in major US cities.
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