Black Lives Matter protests (and some clashes with police) continue Friday

By Fusion Staff | July 9, 2016 | 3:32pm

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Thousands of peaceful marches continued throughout the U.S. on Friday night, one day after Micah Xavier Johnson opened fire on police, killing five officers, at what was an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas.

The protests follow the deaths of Philando Castile, a black man shot by police outside of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling, a black shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The U.S. Justice Department has announced it will investigate both shootings.

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Phoenix, Arizona police clashed with protesters Friday night, releasing pepper spray and bean bags into the crowd of hundreds.

Police said they were trying to prevent the protesters from blocking a major highway.

Protesters gathered at City Hall around 8 p.m. and marched three blocks to the Phoenix Police Department, chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot” and raising their hands to gesture the chant, according to the Arizona Republic. In reaction to the pepper spray, protesters hurled rocks and water bottles at police, according to CNN.

In Rochester, New York, 74 people were arrested after officers told the protesters they were blocking the streets, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. Police in riot gear attempted to push back protesters from blocking the streets.

The protest started at 4 p.m., and continued in the early hours on Saturday.

Two reporters from 13WHAM were briefly detained early Saturday by police, but were released shortly afterward, according to the Rochester D&C.

An estimated 2,000 people marched in downtown Atlanta in a rally organized by the NAACP and Black Lives Matter, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Atlanta march, which blocked the Downtown Connector of an interstate ramp, lasted for nearly 12 hours. Protesters cleared out of the area well after midnight on Saturday.