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Protesters who have brought cities across the nation to a standstill will descend on the nation's capital Saturday in hope of igniting federal action to bar racial profiling by police. Natalie DiBlasio
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks alongside Gwen Carr, to his left, mother of Eric Garner, Esaw Garner, Garner's wife, center right, and Emerald Garner, Garner's daughter, second from right, at the National Action Network headquarters in New York.(Photo: John Minchillo, AP)
WASHINGTON — Protesters who have brought sections of cities across the nation to a standstill will descend on the nation's capital Saturday in hope of igniting federal action to bar racial profiling by police.
"This march is one of many demonstrations to show Congress, the country and the world that we will not stand down until systemic change, accountability and justice in cases of police misconduct are served," NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said in a statement.
Saturday's "Justice for All" march, organized by civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, will bring together the families of two black men: Eric Garner, who died as police in Staten Island tried to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes, and Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Grand juries in both cases declined to indict the white officers on the scene.
"Why are we going to Washington?" Sharpton asked a crowd gathered to hear about the march. "Because all over the country we all need to come together and demand this Congress deal with the issues, that we need laws to protect the citizens in these states from these state grand jurors."
Sharpton will rally the protesters Saturday morning at Freedom Plaza, just a block from the White House.
About 57% of Americans said a New York City grand jury should have indicted police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner, who died in July, according to a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center poll. Pantaleo was seen in a cell phone video with his arms around Garner's neck. As Garner lay on the ground, he could be heard gasping, "I can't breathe."
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The grand jury's decision in Staten Island sparked protests in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Atlanta. On Thursday, congressional aides in Washington walked off their jobs in protest.
"I am so proud that everybody is doing what they have just do," Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, said Wednesday about the upcoming march. "Keep on doing it but just do it in peace."
The mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police last month, will also attend the event. In that incident, a 911 caller told dispatchers a gun Tamir was pointing at people outside a recreation center in Cleveland, Ohio, likely wasn't real. Police said Tamir had an airsoft gun, which shot pellets but resembled a semi-automatic pistol, and didn't follow orders to put his hands up.
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Ferguson struggles to grasp why protests turned violent
The protests, which have spread nationwide, first ignited in Ferguson, Mo., where demonstrators burned buildings, looted stores and smashed police cars after a grand jury's decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of Brown.
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Mom of boy shot by cop: I want police conviction
Desiree Griffiths, 31, of Miami, holds up a sign saying "Black Lives Matter", with the names of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two black men recently killed by police, during a protest Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Miami. People are protesting nationwide against recent decisions not to prosecute white police officers involved in the killing of black men. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) ORG XMIT: FLLS107<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Lynne Sladky, AP)
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