Photo submitted by Daniel Bowler.
WPRO Newsroom
Protesters demonstrating against the Ferguson grand jury decision Tuesday night spilled out onto I-95 and Route 195 in Providence late Tuesday night.
The large group of people spilled onto the highway near exit 20 around 9:30 p.m. causing the highways to be temporarily closed, snarling traffic just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The protest originally began as a gathering of roughly 200 people at Central High School which quickly turned into a march through the streets of Providence.
“The crowd is enormous and it is so, so, so peaceful and organized and I think it is respectful and I think people are exercising their first amendment rights and it’s a beautiful thing,” said Providence NAACP President Jim Vincent early on in the evening.
Police escorted the protesters throughout the evening, directing traffic and creating a path for the marchers until they arrived at the Providence Public Safety Complex.
A short time after arriving at the Complex, a demonstrator burned an American flag and another shouted to climb down to I-95. Protesters were on the highway for several minutes before both Providence and State Police arrested a handful of individuals to move the crowd back on the street. According to eyewitnesses in the crowd, roughly six people were arrested.
No comment was given by Providence or State Police.
Protests erupted in cities across the country after a grand jury in Ferguson declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
Photo submitted by Shelby Rae.
