More than 50 protesters and political activists rallying against police brutality temporarily stalled an eastbound light rail south of McDowell Road and Central Avenue on Saturday evening.
The protest was similar to events happening across the nation — police motorcycles with flashing red and blue lights followed by a crowd of protesters chanting statements such as “We can’t breathe,” and “No justice, no peace.”
The group continued to march east on McDowell and later continued south toward the rest of downtown.
Grandmaster Jay, a DJ and emcee, traveled to Phoenix to help lead the march.
“These people want some justice. Police down here (are) shooting up everybody, covering it up like they are in a few other parts of the country,” Jay said.
Jay said the group was protesting police brutality, a broken judicial system and a “police force that doesn’t care.”
Earlier in December, Rumain Brisbon, a 34-year-old Phoenix resident, was shot dead by a Phoenix police officer. Brisbon was unarmed at the time of the shooting. Some of Brisbon’s family members were present at Saturday’s protest.
The Brisbon shooting occurred as two high-profile grand jury rulings — one concerning the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and another concerning the chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York — and their subsequent aftermaths were the subjects of national news, bringing attention to Phoenix.
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After stalling an eastbound light rail train stopped at the McDowell Road and Central Avenue station by marching on the tracks, protesters continued north on Central and had a “die-in” — in which protesters lie on the ground — for a few minutes at the intersection.
Phoenix Police officers wore helmets and held plastic shields, standing on the west crosswalk of the intersection as protesters stood up and began to walk east on McDowell Road.
Phoenix Police Commander Jeff Alexander said the protest began at at about 5 p.m., but the protest’s Facebook event page said it began at 3 p.m. in downtown’s Cesar Chavez Plaza near Third Avenue and Washington Street.
The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a civil-rights campaigner and political activist who ran for Congress this year, led the march alongside Jay. Maupin said some people may not understand what kind of justice protesters are looking for.
“Justice is an indictment. Justice is a conviction. Justice is police policy and training reforms,” Maupin said. “Justice is healing and reconciliation, but we can’t have (healing and reconciliation) until we have all the others.”
Saturday’s protest occurred on the same day two New York Police Department officers were shot dead by a gunman, further heightening tensions after the Garner grand-jury ruling.
Contact the reporter at alacasse@asu.edu
