Americans hold nationwide protests against police brutality

Americans take to streets of New York City and elsewhere across the country to slam police brutality and racial profiling particularly against African Americans.

Scuffles broke out on Monday in New York City during the nationwide march organized by Stop Mass Incarceration, RT reported.

The group is demanding that “the murder of Black and Brown people by the police MUST STOP”; calling for “justice for all the victims of brutal, murdering police”; asking the court system to “indict, convict and send killer cops to jail” because “the whole damn system is guilty as hell”; and to “stop the repression targeting the protests” by dropping all charges against protesters.

Activists used the #ShutDownA14 to spread the message on social media.

As the protesters were trying to shut down Brooklyn Bridge, police forces got engaged in scuffles with them and made several arrests.

Rallies were continuing in more than 30 cities in 18 states throughout the country.

Hundreds marched from Union Square towards City Hall in New York City while some demonstrators staged die-in protests in memory of slain Eric Garner at the corner of Broadway and Houston.

One African American or Latino has been killed every 28 hours, according to activist Dr. Cornel West who told the crowd that “We got a black president, black attorney general, black cabinet secretary of Homeland Security, but we haven’t had one federal prosecution of a policeman for killing all of those folks.”

Meanwhile in Chicago, some 200 held a demo and blocked traffic on State Street.

“No more stolen lives,” said a banner at a protest in Oakland, California, where around 100 protesters chanted slogans, displaying dozens of photographs police victims in the United States. Later, they entered the City Hall where they continued chanting and whistling.

In San Francisco, a march was staged down Mission Street towards the police station in the Mission District while other protesters gathered in front of the City Hall and later went inside despite attempts by security forces to stop them.

Based on a recent study by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 black people were killed in 2012 by police officers, private security guards and members of the public and in most cases, the perpetrator was not indicted.

The US has recently been confronted with a series of images of police brutality, where unarmed black men have died after encounters with police.

The chokehold death of Garner, a father of six and grandfather of two, was recorded on videos that have been widely seen and have contributed to the public outrage. In the video, Garner repeatedly told police officers “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old in Cleveland, Ohio was fatally shot after a police officer mistook his toy gun for a real one.

The 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death in August 2014 by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson who walked free.

Amilcar Perez-Lopez, a 21-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, was also shot by plain clothes San Francisco Police officers Craig Tiffe and Eric Rebodi on February 26.

Fifty-year-old Walter Scott is one of the latest victims of police brutality in the US. A bystander recorded video of North Charleston Officer Michael Slager,33, firing multiple shots at the African American as was running away.