BREAKING: DERAY MCKESSON ARRESTED IN BATON ROUGE
DeRay McKesson, BlackLivesMatter protestor and black rights activist, was arrested on the 9th of July 2016 by the Baton Rouge Police Department while attending a march on Airline Highway over the death of Alton Sterling at the hands of police. Sources report that the arresting officers were not displaying their names, nor did they provide them when asked. Officers approached the march in riot gear with armored vehicles and firearms, and pursued the protesters along the march route. These officers also moved alongside the protestors, apparently to prevent the road from being blocked, despite the fact that the march did not once attempt to block the road before that point. The actions of the Baton Rouge Police Department match similar police responses to protests, intended to scare protestors into dispersing or provoke them into violence. When neither of these outcomes occurred, the Baton Rouge officers began arresting protestors reportedly on charges of obstructing the road, despite the fact that police vehicles and officers were blocking the march from accessing the road.
Further information is available at the #FreeDeray hashtag on Twitter and in the following mainstream news articles:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/10/black-lives-matter-activist-deray-mckesson-taken-into-custody-by-baton-rouge-police/?tid=twisira
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/us/deray-mckesson-arrested-in-baton-rouge-protest.html
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-deray-arrested-20160710-story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/deray-mckesson-arrested-baton-rouge_us_5781c54ee4b01edea78e3aa3
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/black-lives-matter-activist-deray-mckesson-arrested-during-alton-sterling-n606611