Hundreds in Oakland march to support Ferguson protesters

Oakland Police Sgt. Bobby Hookfin talks with Jeralynn Blueford after a protest march in support of Ferguson, Missouri residents was stopped short of police headquarters in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, August 20, 2014. less Oakland Police Sgt. Bobby Hookfin talks with Jeralynn Blueford after a protest march in support of Ferguson, Missouri residents was stopped short of police headquarters in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, August ... more Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Hundreds in Oakland march to support Ferguson protesters 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

(08-20) 20:35 PDT OAKLAND -- Four separate marches converged into one massive gathering as hundreds took to the streets of downtown Oakland Wednesday evening to stand in solidarity with protesters in Ferguson, Mo. outraged over the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer Aug. 9.

The marches started in four separate locations - Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Jack London Square, the main branch of the Oakland Public Library and the African American History Museum - but came together outside of Oakland Police Headquarters around 6 p.m.

Protesters from the different marches were briefly prevented from joining up with each other by a line of police.

Quanah Brightman, executive director of United Native Americans, an Indian protest group was angered by police attempting to block the marchers from uniting.

"They won't even let us walk on the public street," he said. "I don't feel safe. It is what it is, and they hate us. When they put on a badge, they're allowed to kill us."

Once the disparate groups became one, relatives and friends of those killed by law enforcement in the Bay Area took to the megaphone to call for justice and an end to police brutality, invoking the names of Oscar Grant, Alex Nieto and Andy Lopez, who all died at the hands of law enforcement officers.

Several protesters and family members had recently returned from Ferguson, where police have been criticized for their heavy-handed tactics, and urged support for their counterparts there.

Jeralynn Blueford, the mother of 18-year-old Alan Blueford, who was shot and killed by Oakland police on May 6, 2012, rallied the crowd with chants of "They say get back! We say, fight back," as police in riot helmets stood by and officers blocked on-ramps to nearby Interstate 880 to prevent protesters from heading onto the freeway as in past demonstrations.

Blueford urged the crowd to take the fight to Washington D.C.

"We're going to change this crooked system," she said. "Obama, if you hear me, Alan Blueford's life matters. Mike Brown's life matters."

Around 6:30 p.m. the crowd made its way back up Broadway toward Frank H. Ogawa Plaza to the tune of a New Orleans- style brass band, growing in size as it went.

The music was periodically punctuated by cries of "Hands up! Don't Shoot!" the unofficial rallying cry of Ferguson demonstrators who were simultaneously going into their eleventh consecutive night of protests under heavy rain roughly 2,000 miles away in Missouri.

Oakland mayoral candidate Dan Siegel took to the microphone to call out the adversarial dynamic between police and the communities they are tasked with serving.

"When police departments were created 200 years ago, they were there to promote community safety," he said. "These days we know that this is not the case."

The protest then got on the move again, north up Broadway, west on 20th Street then south on San Pablo Avenue and back to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Organizers then held an informal meeting, breaking into working groups and planning what the next steps would be to take their message beyond demonstrations and protest.

Police reported that the march was entirely peaceful, with no arrests, injuries or acts of vandalism.