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DC March For Justice Followed By Protests Shutting Down DC

Above: Protesters march down Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC from Freedom Plaza to the US Capitol. Source: dickulous / Instagram

Washington, DC saw two very different kinds of protests on the “Day of Resistance.” There was the DC March for Justice organized by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network which became known as the Justice for All march; that was followed by a series of protests throughout Washington organized by DC Ferguson which shut down business as usual in various parts of the city and on a key highway. The DC Ferguson organizers made it clear that they did not have anything to do with Sharpton’s march and interrupted the march to exclaim that it was the Ferguson protesters who had created this movement and who should be speaking at it. Sharpton called them provocateurs. To our eye, they are the real protesters.

The reason people separate themselves from Sharpton is because he is an extremely partisan Democrat who will not criticize President Obama. He has consistently tried to funnel the movement against police abuse into the Democratic Party, even though many of the officials in Ferguson who have abused the African American population are Democrats. Black Agenda Report urged people not to go to the Sharpton march and explained why, with Margaret Kimberly, an editor and senior writer for the publication, writing:

“The real reason he is leading this march is to contain black anger and to keep it from spilling outside of proscribed channels of official authority. That is Sharpton’s hustle in a nutshell. His job is to keep black people in line while making it appear that he is leading a popular movement. The subterfuge makes this march in particular a grotesque mockery.”

An organizer with the Hands Up Coalition in Washington, DC described the event as the “Sharpton fiasco.” The Hands Up Coalition in DC is organizing a weekly protest at the US Department of Justice at 4:00 pm each Monday they are calling “Justice Mondays”.

Video by Robert Brune of DC Media Group:

Below are tweets describing the events of the day in Washington, DC where thousands protested for an end to racist policing and justice for victims of police abuse.

Many of the people came by bus to Washington, DC to participate in today’s march.

They met at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. This is the space where we organized the Occupation of Washington, DC that began in October 2011.

A good sized crowd formed.

At the event the DC Ferguson participants took the stage and demanded to be heard.

While the crowd chanted “Let them speak,” Sharpton organizers told them to leave the stage.

Finally, the DC Ferguson organizers took the mic

Some were not very pleased with how the Sharpton rally went.

Shortly, after the rally Rev. Sharpton went back to New York City. In a much re-tweeted tweet he is pictured heading home on an airplane.

Then, the DC Ferguson actions began.

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