Protest closes Home Depot store in Emeryville

An anti-police protest drawing more than 100 people shut down a Home Depot store in Emeryville Saturday.

A group of activists protesting the police shooting of 38-year-old Yuvette Henderson chained themselves together, blocking the entrance to the home improvement store.

Police say Henderson was shot because she threatened officers with a gun and refused to put the weapon down. Officers confronted Henderson after she stole knives from Home Depot and tried to carjack vehicles to get away, police reported.

But protesters are skeptical of the police explanation and want Home Depot to release security footage of the incident. They called the shooting an example of the “extrajudicial police kills of black people across the country,” according to a statement put out by the protesters.

“We want the videotapes released so we can find out the truth,” said activist Carrie Leilam Love.

Stephen Holmes, a spokesman for Home Depot, said the store’s standard practice is to allow police to release information related to an investigation.

“We understand the concern when something as serious as this happens in a community, but it would be inappropriate for us to independently release information while an ongoing investigation is going on,” Holmes said.

The protest at about 10 a.m. with around 100 people in front of the Emeryville Police Department. Police set up barricades blocking entry to its front counters, but the station remained open and operating, said Sgt. Fred Dauer.

Protesters then moved to the Home Depot store in Emeryville, closing the store at around 11 a.m. The store normally shuts down at 9 p.m. on Saturdays. At its height, the protest had around 150 people, police said.

Protesters said they stayed in front of the store for five hours, marking the time Henderson’s dead body was on the street. Home Depot plans to reopen the store Sunday.

No arrests were made and no vandalism was reported from the protest, police said.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: wlee@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @thewendylee