Stanford Student Protesters Block Highway 101 Over NYPD Chokehold Death
EAST PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) – About 150 people, many of them students at Stanford University, briefly blocked Highway 101 Wednesday night following a New York City grand jury's decision in the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer.
Wednesday night's protest was among many held in cities across the country after the grand jury decided not to file charges against the officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner earlier this year.
According to witnesses, the protesters traveled from the school to the University Avenue exit in East Palo Alto around 10:00 p.m.
The protesters shut down traffic in both directions for about 15 minutes, until the California Highway Patrol moved them off the freeway.
"The biggest thing we're trying to do right now is let people know that we will be seen, and we will be heard, and we will continue to disrupt their everyday life until they recognize that," said Clayton Evans, a student protester.
In the Bay Area, protests were also held in Oakland and San Francisco.
Last week, protesters in Oakland denouncing a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict a Ferguson, Missouri police officer in the Michael Brown case blocked freeways multiple times.
