Dallas Ferguson Protests
Dallas protests over Ferguson shut down I-35, bringing holiday traffic to a halt
A November 25 protest in Dallas over the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, spilled out onto I-35 and shut down the highway entirely. Seven people were arrested and charged with obstructing a highway or other passageway.
The Dallas protest was one of many across the country, responding to a November 24 decision by the grand jury in St. Louis not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the August 9 death of Michael Brown.
According to Fox DFW, the Dallas protest began with a prayer vigil at the Dallas Police Department, led by Pastor Freddy Haynes. A light brigade formed, spelling out the words "black lives matter." Nearly 200 protestors marched through downtown streets before spilling onto I-35, where they brought traffic to a halt.
WFAA reporter David Schecter followed the course of the protest from its source at police headquarters through the march downtown and onto the freeway, where he witnessed protestors sitting and lying down on the roadway.
Traffic on I-35 was backed up for miles, until the police were able to clear the protest at 11 pm.
In a proactive step, Dallas police pushed up the date of its new mini-website publishing the data of every police shooting since 2003. The DPD is also ordering body cameras and Tasers to improve transparency reduce the number of shootings.
