Hundreds march in Nashville against police brutality

A diverse group of demonstrators marched through the heart of Nashville on Friday night to protest police brutality and gather in solidarity for Eric Garner, a black man who died after an encounter with a New York police officer.

The night began at 7 p.m. outside the Nashville Metro Police Department where about 150 protesters gathered for a candlelight vigil for Garner and other victims. A hush fell over the crowd as D.J. Hudson read Garner's last words — "I can't breathe" — into the megaphone and set the tone for the night's march.

"We are going to be peaceful, but we are going to be powerful," Hudson said.

The size of the well-organized demonstration ebbed and flowed as the group marched to drumbeats and chants, making its way through key parts of Nashville under the watchful eyes of police.

"Ain't no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don't stop."

In the most dramatic moment of the more than three-hour march, protesters moved toward Interstate 65 just after 9:30 p.m., prompting Tennessee Highway Patrol officers to shut down the interstate and block the ramps.

Troopers formed a line to prevent them from marching onto the interstate, announcing that anyone who proceeded would be arrested. Nashville police had drawn both praise and criticism in November when they allowed a group of protesters to march onto Interstate 24 during a protest after an officer was acquitted in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. But this week, just before President Barack Obama's visit to Nashville on Tuesday, law enforcement warned that similar protests could end in arrests.

On Friday night, protesters eventually turned around and headed back downtown to Lower Broadway before staging another "die-in" on the way back to the police department where the movement started. The group grew smaller after the protest as it stretched into the three-and-a-half-hour mark.

Nationwide protests

The march in Nashville was one of several planned in cities across the country this weekend where demonstrators are standing in solidarity for Garner and Brown.

Officers on motorcycles and all terrain vehicles escorted the Nashville group through the streets, attempting to anticipate the path of the march and positioning rolling roadblocks. No arrests were made during the march.

As they made their way up Broadway toward I-65, the group's "Black Lives Matter" chant mixed with the music spilling out of honky-tonks. Tourists stood on the sidewalks snapping photos as the demonstrators laid down for a "die in" at the intersection of Fourth and Broadway, marking the time Mike Brown's body lay on the street.

Five members of the Music City chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority were among the demonstrators' ranks. Sorority member Vakessha Hood-Schneider said Friday night was about recognition and showing the community that a problem does exist.

"I think in order to address the problem we have to admit that it's a problem. There's no way to have change if your voice is not heard. So tonight our voice is being heard," Hood-Schneider said.

The march continued on past the Music City Center and the Bridgestone Arena. They paused again at Demonbreun and Sixth Street where Hudson directed the crowd with the aid of a megaphone to The Gulch, one of Nashville's fastest growing neighborhoods.

"We all want to feel at home in this city. We all love it and want to make sure we can continue to love it and live in it," Hudson said. "We're going to go there and say, 'Wow, your shiny buildings are beautiful,' but they should not be pushing the rest of us out."

The group made its way past a construction site for future development. People came out of the bars and restaurants to snap photos of the group as the demonstrators laid down in the street for another "die in."

The march only received a handful of heckles and annoyed honks from drivers inconvenienced.

Reach Holly Meyer at 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer, and Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5786 and @tamburintweets.