Ferguson Protesters Block Traffic Downtown LA, Westlake District
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Protesters demonstrating against the decision to not charge police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri continued Friday in Los Angeles.
About 150 Ferguson protesters marched on First Street approaching Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles.
A slightly smaller group gathered on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and tried to get Black Friday shoppers to join them.
Meanwhile, CBS2's Jeff Nguyen said another group, marching in the Westlake District, said they were going to try to block traffic on the 101 Freeway.
Commander Andrew Smith told Nguyen the police were going to be understanding -- to a point.
The LAPD set up a skirmish line before deciding whether or not to declare an unlawful assembly.
Police say the group has been unlawfully disrupting traffic during the march.
Some of the protesters told Ngyuen they were staying on sidewalks and that police were unfairly targeting them.
As of 5:40 p.m., police had cordoned off one area near Alvarado near Beverly and Temple.
Stu Mundel, reporting overhead in Sky2, said LAPD and the protesters seemed to be in the middle of a "discussion" with protesters standing in place.
Around 5:45 p.m., Nguyen reported that police gave an order to disperse.
Smith said, "Hopefully we won't have to arrest any one tonight."
The protesters in the Westlake district were eventually split into two factions. One group was near Alvarado and Beverly Boulevard and asked to disperse. Most of that group has left the area, police said.
The other group was being individually questioned by police. Any protesters with outstanding warrants were being detained.
Police told the Associated Press that eight people were arrested including one for shoving an officer.
