In a weekend-long series of actions aimed at reclaiming/restoring Martin Luther King Jr’s history of radicalism and revolutionary action, Black Lives Matter activists chain linked cars together and blocked traffic at the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.
“Today is the day when we reclaim MLK’s radical legacy,” said April Thomas, who was chained between two cars. “I’m out here for Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, for my mother, myself, for Harriet Tubman.”
Dozens of protesters streamed out of cars and onto the roadway, erecting a banner reading “Black Health Matters” and a shrine bearing the names of victims of police shootings.
Officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived soon after the blockade was in place. About 4.15pm, the officers began cutting chains and arresting protesters who had left their cars. The bridge shutdown caps off four days of protest in the Bay area, where the Black Lives Matter movement has been galvanized by the fatal shooting of Mario Woods by San Francisco police officers on 2 December 2015.
If you're stuck on the #BayBridge, this is why — protesters are blocking #traffic. WATCH: https://t.co/hInz2MDdci https://t.co/qVxEtaLLOa
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) January 19, 2016
The scene on the Bay Bridge where protesters are blocking traffic #ReclaimMLK #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/zI1X4Im4RM
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) January 19, 2016
