BERKELEY, Mo. — A planned highway shutdown fell through Wednesday as a wall of officers in riot gear kept Ferguson police shooting protesters from walking onto Interstate 70 in a nearby St. Louis suburb during the late afternoon commute. ADVERTISING
BERKELEY, Mo. — A planned highway shutdown fell through Wednesday as a wall of officers in riot gear kept Ferguson police shooting protesters from walking onto Interstate 70 in a nearby St. Louis suburb during the late afternoon commute.
State troopers and St. Louis city and county officers warned the roughly 150 demonstrators who gathered to stay out of the road as they protested last month’s shooting of Michael Brown, a black, unarmed 18-year-old, by a white officer. There were nearly as many officers as demonstrators.
Organizers said the protest in Berkeley was designed as an act of nonviolent civil disobedience similar to a 1999 demonstration in the same location. During that protest, hundreds of people shut down the interstate in a dispute over minority hiring for road construction projects.
Highway Patrol Sgt. Al Nothum said 35 people were arrested, most on charges of unlawful assembly. Nothum said protesters threw rocks, concrete blocks, bricks and bottles, leading to four charges of assault on a law enforcement officer.
A smaller group later went to the nearby Ferguson police station before a heavy, late afternoon thunderstorm dispersed most of the protesters.
The crowd included about 20 union workers who operate public transit buses and trains for the region’s Metro system.
“We’re out here to show support,” said Antoin Johnson, 30. “We feel that an injustice has been done.”
