While the first day of protests against a Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown was characterized by violent riots in Ferguson itself, this second night has seen the protests go national.
In New York, protesters have taken to the streets to antagonize police officers and close down Manhattan’s major thoroughfares.
1:09AM: Filmmaker Spike Lee is marching with protesters with bicycle in tow.
11:59PM: Much chatter on Twitter on how NYPD is allowing the march to continue without antagonizing protesters. Could potentially contribute to the relative peace at the NYC protests, compared to those elsewhere in the country.
11:53PM: Occupy-types using the human microphone, wearing Guy Fawkes masks, and waving a gigantic Puerto Rican flag.
“We don’t have any respect!”
11:49PM: Also out and about in NYC tonight: this guy.
11:43PM: Commuters with places to go are thanking NYPD for their efficient displacement of many attempting to block traffic. While the FDR Drive appears to remain blocked, the tunnels are reportedly relatively clear.
11:41PM: SILive.com has posted a video of NYPD attempting to clear out Times Square earlier tonight. The NYPD officer ordering the protesters to vacate– and promising that no charges will be brought to those who immediately obey the order– is met with angry boos.
11:35PM: Police appear to be forming a blockade on the West Side Highway to prevent protesters from going further.
Meanwhile, the Harlem protest chants are wildly out of sync, with the leader of the chant shouting “No Justice!” and getting “the police!” as a response from the crowd, or “no peace!” in response to the shout “Fuck the!”
11:32PM: Livestream (link here) of protest traveling to Harlem has reached 125th Street and halted. Helicopters can be heard overhead; protesters appear certain that they are police helicopters, though they may also be news agencies.
11:28PM: Times Square appears to be clearing out. According to this eyewitness, there are more police than protesters at the heart of the city right now.
11:24PM: Elsewhere in the city, protesters are starting to get confused as to what they are supposed to be doing, exactly (in addition to this tweet, the narrator of the Livestream seemed unsure of whether 124th Street in Harlem was the end goal of the march, though he seems to have heard it from… somewhere).
11:19PM: For those following the Livestream, the Harlem-bound march is now shouting “The people united will never be defeated,” an archaic 20th century Marxist slogan.
11:16PM: CNN reporting that the Henry Hudson Parkway– the more northward version of the FDR Drive– is now closed due to protesters.
11:14PM: Fresh video of protesters staging a four-minute moment of silence for Whole Foods Michael Brown in Union Square. While relatively silent, the crowd did not refrain from taking selfies.
11:09PM: More video of the FDR Drive completely shut down by protesters. For non-NYCers, the FDR Drive is a highway running along the outer rim of Manhattan that acts as a sort of expressway to avoid the traffic within actual streets on the island.
11:06PM: While some protesters are heading to Harlem (it is unclear what the intention there is), others are deliberately shutting Manhattan off from Brooklyn by heading to the Williamsburg Bridge. Police appear to have not yet intervened in a way that has concerned the crowds:
11:02PM: ABC 7 New York has live helicopter video over Times Square here (sadly, not embeddable). The crowd there, while still formidable, appears to have cleared out as various groups have dispersed to reach Harlem or block outbound crossings in Manhattan.
11:00PM: The chant has gotten more aggressive: “NYPD-KKK/How many kids have you killed today?”
10:55PM: Protesters have set up a livestream of the rally in Manhattan. As of press time, the person recording has announced that the protesters are crossing 100th Street on Columbus Ave., which means they have traveled almost 90 blocks from Union Square, blocking traffic the entire way. The goal appears to be to reach Harlem (around 120th Street, the narrator says). They are chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Justice for Mike Brown.” Drum circles are in full effect.
10:53PM: The protests appear to already be affecting holiday travel, as many on Twitter lament that their travel plans this Tuesday will be thwarted as many major roadways are blocked.
So upset that the Ferguson protests in NYC might not allow my grandpa to be able to come up for Thanksgiving
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