UAlbany students protest Ferguson, block Washington Avenue
Source: Times Union
By Brittany Horn
ALBANY — University at Albany students spanned the width of Washington Avenue Wednesday afternoon, blocking traffic and holding signs in protest of the Ferguson, Mo., shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in early August.
The protest — one of many that has broken out across the country since the grand jury decided not to file charges against Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown — wove throughout campus and ended on the four-lane road across from the college. UAlbany Deputy Chief of Police Aran Mull , who joined the protest in exchange for students moving off of the street, said students "absolutely got heard" at the afternoon gathering. No students were arrested or ticketed during the peaceful protest, he said.
"I told them, 'Now that your voice has been heard, you need to take that next step,' " Mull said after talking to many students after the protest dispersed on campus. Some students wanted to share their thoughts with the officer and hear his own opinions on the justice system, while others told him they had no interest in engaging with him.
UAlbany student Michelle Valle said she will be protesting every day until more awareness is raised about racism in Albany and across the country. The 21-year-old Harlem native said she has experienced more profiling for the color of her skin while in Albany than in New York City, which she struggles to understand.
FULL story at link.
Joshua Johnson, center, is joined by fellow University at Albany students to demonstrate against the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo. Wednesday Dec. 3, 2014, at University Hall in Albany, N.Y. The protest was organized by Iota Phi Theta fraternity and Zeta Phi Beta sorority. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/UAlbany-students-block-Washington-Avenue-during-5932735.php
