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Oakland Marchers Hold Up Mirrors To Officers In Protest Over Ferguson, Police Shootings

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Protesters against the police actions in Ferguson, Mo. as well as police killings of other suspects in California and other states gathered in Oakland on Wednesday.

A couple of hundred demonstrators gathered at Oakland Police headquarters on 7th and Broadway and faced off with officers in riot gear.

Some protesters unveiled a new tactic, by holding up mirrors in the faces of officers.

Oakland Ferguson Protest Mirror
A protester holds a mirror up to a police officer in Oakland on August 20, 2014. Demonstrators gathered to protest the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, along with other incidents of police brutality. (Joe Vazquez / CBS)

"I was holding up the mirror because I wanted the police to just look at themselves. Especially if they were about to take some kind of action just so they had to acknowledge what they were doing," protester Nichola Torbett told KPIX 5.

Demarco Robinson, also a protester, said, "We want that person to look at themselves so that they can realize they're not a badge. They don't have to follow the system that they don't agree with."

The CHP said the Broadway offramp off northbound I-880 was shut down due to the protests as well as other ramps in the downtown area. Shortly after 7 p.m., all downtown ramps were reopened.

Groups reportedly gathered at four locations in Oakland: at the Main Library on 14th St., the African American History Museum on 14th St., Jack London Square, and Frank Ogawa Plaza, which protesters call "Oscar Grant Plaza" following the Occupy Oakland movement.

The crowd gathered to remember unarmed 18-year-old Mike Brown who was shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis as well as other officer-involved fatal shootings of suspects in the Bay Area and other states.

Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, marched in the protest. "When Ferguson went down my heart just sank again. Another senseless killing. And another cover up scheme again trying to demonize a young man," she said.

As of late Wednesday night, no arrests were made.

According to Bay City News Service, the Oakland protest and march is one of three scheduled for Wednesday in the Bay Area in response to the shooting of Brown. Another rally took place in San Jose earlier on Wednesday and a third was scheduled for Wednesday evening in San Jose.

TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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