ST. LOUIS • Activists supporting the Black Lives Matter movement temporarily blocked westbound traffic on Highway 40 (Interstate 64) downtown Saturday afternoon as part of a protest to raise the issue of racial inequality.

Earlier Saturday, several local groups, including the Organization for Black Struggle and the St. Louis chapter of Hands Up United, had organized a rally at the Old Courthouse.

The Old Courthouse, a powerful symbol for activists, is the site where the slave Dred Scott sued for his freedom in the landmark legal case that he eventually lost. Slave auctions also were held on the courthouse steps.

About 200 people participated in the protest that started building around 2 p.m., including those attending a downtown conference of Netroots Nation, a national organization of progressive activists.

Protesters, many of them from out of town, marched south on Broadway past Busch Stadium, and eventually went up the entrance ramp to westbound Highway 40, where they blocked traffic for about 15 minutes before leaving the upper deck of the highway.