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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police in Oakland and Los Angeles arrested scores of demonstrators during a third night of unrest linked to the shooting protest in Ferguson, Missouri.
At least 130 demonstrators who refused to disperse during a Los Angeles protest were arrested Wednesday night, while 35 people were detained in Oakland following a march that deteriorated into unrest and vandalism, according to police officials.
About 200 or 300 largely peaceful demonstrators crisscrossed the streets of downtown Los Angeles for several hours in the afternoon and evening over a decision not to bring criminal charges against a Ferguson policeman for killing a black man.
Later some of the protesters were stopped by a phalanx of riot-clad police near the Central Library.
Lt. Andy Neiman said an unlawful assembly was declared after some marchers began walking in the street and disrupting traffic. They were ordered to disperse but instead reformed, with police trying to corral them.
Neiman said 130 protesters were arrested.
Meanwhile, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the 33 arrests there came after a march by about 100 people through Oakland streets.
She said that later small groups began moving through the streets with some vandalizing property, mainly breaking windows.
Most of the protesters had dispersed but shortly before midnight Watson said that there was still a very small group that police were monitoring.
On Monday and Tuesday, some demonstrators in Oakland vandalized businesses and blocked freeways to protest the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
During the demonstration Wednesday in Los Angeles, demonstrators had marched to a federal building and police headquarters but they were turned away by lines of police after heading toward the county jail and then the Staples Center arena, where the Los Angeles Lakers were playing.
'The system is wrong,' demonstrator Jovan Brown told KCAL-TV. 'We're trying to let everybody know if we come together as a people and unite, we can change it.'
There was a brief, tense confrontation where a handful of demonstrators screamed at officers, who held raised batons. One officer struck a woman who had moved forward, and another shoved a protester.
Finally, squads of police boxed in and began arresting around 60 remaining protesters for failure to disperse, Neiman said.
Most of those arrested were expected to be released after posting $500 bail for the misdemeanor. However, those unable to pay the bail could remain jailed through the Thanksgiving weekend pending scheduled Monday court hearings, authorities said.
Earlier Wednesday, nine people were arrested after they sat down in a bus lane on U.S. 101 near downtown during one of the busiest driving days of the year.
There were smaller, peaceful protests in other communities, including San Diego and Riverside.
More than 300 protesters have been arrested over the past three days by Los Angeles police and California Highway Patrol officers.
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Kristin J. Bender in San Francisco and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
More On Ferguson From HuffPost:
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Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://ift.tt/15wuw7t.
Photographic Evidence Revealed | 'First Year Law Student Could Have Done Better Job' | Ferguson Smolders After Night Of Fires | Protest Locations | Americans Deeply Divided | What You Can Do | Darren Wilson Interview | Darren Wilson Could Still Face Consequences | Timeline | Students Protest | Shooting Witness Admitted Racism In Journal | Peaceful Responses Show The U.S. At Its Best | Reactions To Ferguson Decision | Prosecutor Gives Bizarre Press Conference | Jury Witness: 'By The Time I Saw His Hands In The Air, He Got Shot' | Thousands Protest Nationwide | Ferguson Unrest Takes Over Newspaper Front Pages Across The Country | Grand Jury 'Should Be Indicted,' Brown Lawyer Says | Grand Jury Documents Reveal Mistakes, Questionable Testimony | Parents Bring Young Kids To Bear Witness To Ferguson Protests | 12 Sobering Numbers That Define The Fight To Get Justice For Michael Brown | Saints Player's Moving Reflection On Ferguson Goes Viral | Amid Ferguson Cleanup, Locals Look For Their Community To Rise Above The Damage | 'They're Murdering Our Kids And Getting Away With It' |
More than 60 protesters arrested tonight in downtown L.A. LAPD won't specify exact numbers at this time. People still being 'processed.'
- Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
More than 60 protesters arrested tonight in downtown L.A. LAPD won't specify exact numbers at this time. People still being 'processed.'
- Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
Two men indicted last week on federal weapons charges allegedly had plans to bomb the Gateway Arch - and to kill St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson - the Post-Dispatch has learned.
Sources close to the investigation were uncertain whether the men had the capability to carry out the plans, although the two allegedly did purchase what they thought was a pipe bomb in an undercover law enforcement sting.
Read more here.
Read more here.
HuffPost's Lilly Workneh reports:
On Monday and Tuesday nights, protests (again, some violent) drew heavy media attention, leaving no escape from the reality of more racially charged conflict around a young man's death.
Here are a few numbers, some that might have foreshadowed the latest protests while others show the power of people's despair:
The number of days that protesters have demonstrated in the St. Louis area since Brown's death. -- Amanda Terkel
I wanted to comment on the tragic rift that we're witnessing. I lived in St. Louis for seventeen years before moving to Massachusetts, so watching the news right now breaks my heart. At first glance, one might see a representation of the Gateway Arch as split and divided, but my hope is that the events in Ferguson will provide a bridge and an opportunity for the city, and also for the country, to learn and come together.
View Staake's cover here.
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