Protestors appear in court

November 26, 2014 12:52 pm

Bail was set for one person and 5 others are free on personal recognizance after a peaceful march in Providence Tuesday night turned dangerous. Protesters took their message to the highway in response the events happening in Ferguson, Missouri.

James Vincent, President of the Providence NAACP is angry and frustrated. He’s condemning the actions of a handful of local protesters who he says went far.

“I think it reflects badly. That becomes the story. The story should be there was a large peaceful protest because of injustice in Ferguson, Missouri,” he said.

The rally was planned in the wake of a Grand Jury’s decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed black teen, Michael Brown. The march began at Central High in Providence, but eventually spilled onto Interstate 95.

Col. Steven O’Donnel of the Rhode Island State Police says about 150 people climbed a fence and blocked traffic. Troopers arrested 5 people. Providence police arrested another person for spray painting a cruiser.

“It was as dangerous as you can possibly imagine– for many reasons. The protesters could become victims. They could get run over and get killed and besides them you have rescues and things like that– fire, rescue or police that need to get past them. It’s a mile away from a trauma center so if someone needs access they can’t get by,” he said.

The move was planned nationally by organizers. Vincent says he won’t let what happened locally distract from the mission.

“The mission is to shed light on a judicial system that is not fair in large part for people of color and African American’s in particular- from coast to coast. That’s the issue. How do we have a dialogue to get some fairness?” he asked.

Col. O’Donnell says Rhode Island State Police are committed to keeping the lines of communication with the public open.