CLEVELAND – Several hundred people marched down an exit ramp and temporarily blocked rush-hour traffic on a busy freeway on Tuesday while protesting a police officer’s fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy who had brandished a realistic-looking novelty gun.
Police diverted traffic but didn’t take action against the protesters, who chanted phrases such as “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “No justice, no peace” as they sat in a major intersection before marching past City Hall and onto state Route 2.
The protesters were demonstrating after the death of Tamir Rice, who was shot Saturday when police responded to a 911 call about a gun at a playground. Police later determined Tamir had an airsoft gun, which typically shoots tiny plastic pellets, but it was missing its orange safety indicator.
The demonstration came as protesters across the country blasted a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer who killed an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams was observing and conferring with officers about the local protest but declined to immediately comment.