Black Lives Matter Protesters Stop Traffic On FDR Drive
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Protesters stopped traffic on the FDR Drive and marched their way through the city Sunday.
Video shows hundreds of people walking in the northbound lanes of the highway.
The NYPD ultimately had to shut down the highway, forcing countless drivers to sit in their cars because of the demonstration.
This march, CBS2 has been told, was put on to show support for Black Women.
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People participating in it say they started at 42nd Street in Times Square around 5 p.m.
"This is brought to call attention to Breonna Taylor's killers. Why have they not been prosecuted? Why are there countless trans that have been murdered and we don't know who has murdered them and nobody is even investigating?" protest organizer Michelle Hope said.
"I decided not to hang out with my friends to come out and march because I have siblings that have passed away, friends that passed away, female, girls that have passed away," protester Bre'Shawna Robinson told CBS2's Cory James.
"It ain't just women, it's Black lives, not just the recent. Our ancestors that died in the Black holocaust. We're here for them, too. We're here for Black women, all of it. It doesn't stop. It never faded with us," one man said.
Sunday was the second night in a row the city has seen protests.
There were chaotic demonstrations late Saturday night in lower Manhattan.
Fires were started, graffiti was drawn and police say a total of six NYPD vehicles were vandalized.
The unrest was called a show of solidarity with Portland, Oregon, which has seen violent clashes between demonstrators and police.
The NYPD could not give CBS2 any information regarding arrests.
Sunday's protesters, meanwhile, gathered at Marcus Garvey Park in East Harlem around 11 p.m. to listen to speakers.
The protests were reported to be peaceful. One person jumped on the back of a patrol van, but police were able to get him off without any sort of confrontation.
Most protesters said they just wanted to show support for Black women. One woman told CBS2 she was in her apartment when she saw the protest pass. She said she decided to leave her friends and join the march because she felt she needed to be part of the movement.
