Americans protest against racial and economic injustice

American protesters have staged nationwide demonstrations to mark Martin Luther King’s Day and protest against racial and economic injustice in the United States.

Protesters on Monday afternoon met in the middle of the Lake Street Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, and shut it down. Police arrested a number of demonstrates.

In Minneapolis, protesters called on authorities to punish the police officers who killed 24-year-old African-American Jamar Clark during a confrontation. They demanded the officers be prosecuted by the Hennepin County prosecutor Mike Freeman without a grand jury.

In St. Paul, family members took to the streets following the one year anniversary of Marcus Golden’s death.

“It may be four degrees but our hearts are warm with justice,” said Monique Cullars-Doty, Golden’s aunt.

St. Paul police shot and killed 24-year-old Marcus Golden on January 14, 2015, after investigators say he drove his vehicle towards an officer at high speed.

Golden’s family called on the St. Paul Police Department and Chief Tom Smith to reopen his case and launch both an independent investigation as well as investigation by the Department of Justice.