Police arrested several Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters standing near outdoor diners in New York City’s West Village on Saturday night.
“The protesters — who were later hit with charges that include disorderly conduct — had been gathered on the sidewalk and a pedestrian island on Hudson Street near 10th Street,” according to the New York Post.
Across the street New York Police Department (NYPD) officers lined up to face them, video footage showed:
When officers rushed the group around 9:00 p.m., an automated announcement was heard warning the protesters not to walk in the street or the roadway.
Officers earlier raided another gathering in nearby Washington Square Park, according to NBC New York.
“The group demonstrating in the park had walked over to the 6th Precinct after officers seized their music equipment,” the report said.
A police spokesperson later confirmed to NBC that 12 protesters were arrested and eight of them received summonses for disorderly conduct.
However, some protesters in Washington Square Park claimed they were doing nothing wrong, according to CBS New York.
“We were free, dancing in the streets, alleviating our pain. We are in pain every single day, and they can’t even let us have that,” one woman told the outlet.
“They’re terrorizing joy. We didn’t come here to do anything but to have fun,” protester Shanee Grant commented.
Organizers at the park’s protest said the demonstration was to express disagreement with a grand jury’s decision not to directly charge police officers in Breonna Taylor’s death.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Wednesday the officers would not be charged because they had been fired upon first, adding that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, testified the officers knocked before entering the dwelling.
Despite the evidence, protesters started a fire at the Hall of Justice in Louisville on Wednesday and broke windows on Thursday night in the city’s downtown area.
Louisville police clashed with hundreds of protesters, some of whom were armed, on Friday before dispersing the crowd two hours before the 9:00 p.m. curfew went into effect, according to Breitbart News.
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