MONTEREY >> What began as a peaceful and lawful demonstration to raise awareness about police brutality against people of color ended Saturday with several arrests after the protest unlawfully moved onto Highway 1, blocking southbound traffic for several minutes.

The eight demonstrators who were taken into custody face misdemeanor charges, Monterey Assistant Police Chief Dave Hober said.

The protest, dubbed “Black and Brown Lives Matter,” began at 10 a.m. outside Custom House Plaza, progressed with a parade through the commercial area of Fisherman’s Wharf, and proceeded down Alvarado Street to Monterey’s Metro Station Plaza, where several of the demonstrators spoke to a crowd of about 50 using a bullhorn. Several of the protests were students at CSU Monterey Bay.

Hober made cordial contact with the organizers at the Custom House Plaza location before the bulk of the crowd arrived, and Monterey police cruisers temporarily blocked traffic in the downtown area to ensure the safety of the demonstrators as the parade moved down Alvarado Street.

But participants crossed a legal line when they took the protest from Metro Station Plaza to Highway 1 southbound via the Aguajito Road on-ramp, then ventured onto the freeway, halting traffic.

Police gave demonstrators the opportunity to leave the area peacefully to avoid arrest, and all but about 10 did. Those who remained were taken into custody.

The rally attracted people of multiple races from the Salinas Valley, the Monterey Peninsula (including students from CSU Monterey Bay) and as far north as Santa Cruz, many of whom were carrying homemade signs or banners, or wearing T-shirts bearing messages that included, “Stop killing brown people,” “Brown lives matter,” “Doing nothing changes nothing,” “No killer cops in Salinas,” “I can’t breathe,” “Stop police impunity,” “Police brutality is white supremacy,” and “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

Among the protesters were relatives of Frank Alvarado, a 40-year-old Salinas man who was shot and killed by police on July 10, 2014.

“The police shot him down thinking he had a gun. My brother had a cellphone,” Alvarado’s sister, Angelique Garza, told the crowd in an emotional four-minute speech.

“All lives matter, but right now, it’s black and brown,” she said. “We need to get together, spread the word and fight this unjust, militarized police department. They’re supposed to take care of us, not kill us.”

Protesters said Saturday’s demonstration was inspired, in part, by the racial unrest that has overtaken several U.S. cities, including Ferguson, Missouri, where an 18-year-old black male, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a white police officer on Aug. 9, 2014.

“The fact that I’m black, myself, is the No. 1 thing that brought me out here today,” said CSUMB senior Courtney Thomas, 23, of Los Angeles, who was among the eight protesters arrested later in the day. “A lot of men in my community are getting gunned down almost every day, and no justice is being served.

“I’ve been profiled, myself, on numerous occasions, as part of a community that is majority-white. I’ve seen people of my color, and of brown color, being profiled. My dad once had to take off his shirt to show police that he had no weapons so he wouldn’t be killed. That’s something that has stuck with me since I was 13.”

The protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace, racist cops off the street,” and “Ain’t no power like the power of the people if the power of the people don’t stop” as they marched through a large crowd watching a concert outside the Museum of Monterey.

A few observers shouted back at them, and two women gave a “thumbs down” signal, as the demonstrators made their way through the crowd milling through Fisherman’s Wharf.

But the group found supporters on Alvarado Street, where an outdoor diner applauded as they passed, and several young adults raised their arms in the air, mimicking the “Hands up, don’t shoot” gesture that began with the Michael Brown slaying in Ferguson.

“I’ve seen a lot of discrimination and I’ve experienced it firsthand,” said Angelica Gonzalez, a Los Angeles native studying at CSUMB. “I’ve seen my dad, who has achieved his citizenship, put up with a lot of discrimination in his own life, which makes me sad. It’s really terrible that there’s still a lot of that going on.”

“I’m a student at CSUMB, but I’m from Bakersfield, where racist issues have been a major thing for a long time,” said Eraady Frias. “There was actually a restaurant that displayed a sign that said, ‘No spics allowed,’ and that wasn’t all that long ago. It’s like, really? That kind of stuff is still happening?”

Arrested with Thomas were Michael Frederickson, 25, of Monterey; Trinidad Gonzalez, 21, of Marina; Maxwell Green, 34, of Monterey; Colette Marlin-Winter, 22, of Carmel; Benjamin Wilson, 26, of Seaside; Alexandra Walling, 24, of Seaside; and Peter Xiong, 20 of Marina.

Each was transported to the Monterey City Jail, where they were booked and later released on charges including obstructing a public roadway, failure to obey a lawful order, unlawful assembly, conspiracy and obstructing an officer.

Dennis Taylor can be reached at 726-4371.