The Black Lives Matter movement staged a direct action protest Monday blocking the entrance to the federal courthouse in St. Louis, MO, to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown. Blue Nation Review
reports:
Human rights activists, led by professor Cornel West, descended onto the steps of the federal courthouse in St. Louis Monday. Singing the Black Lives Matter anthem “I Can’t Breathe,” demonstrators linked arms and sat down in front of a line of police officers.
Arrests began shortly before 1:30 p.m. CT, as St. Louis County police chief Jon Belmar personally ordered protesters to leave the area or face detention. People who breeched the line in front of the courthouse were surrounded by uniformed police officers.
Dr. West and Rev. Osagyefo Sekou were among the approximately 40 people arrested.
The peaceful arrestable action was being
documented and
tweeted by BLM activist DeRay McKesson.
Police reportedly arrested McKesson too for simply filming the arrests of the protesters.
In the meantime, the St. Louis County executive has reportedly declared a "state of emergency" in the city.