Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. – Hundreds of protesters marched through Berkeley on Tuesday night — forcing the closure of roads and transit depots — for a fourth straight night. Later, on Wednesday, a group tried to shut down a federal courthouse.

"A badge is not a license to kill," said a sign held by one protester, emblematic of the anger and frustration over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers.

Organizers of a protest planned for Wednesday morning in Oakland said they expect hundreds of white people to come out and help shut down a federal building. Later in the day, demonstrators tried but failed to shut down Oakland's federal courthouse.

About 50 nonviolent protesters blocked the courthouse's front and back entrances, but employees entered through side doors.

The event involved white community members who joined religious leaders under the message "white silence equals violence, black lives matter."

"As white people, we are outraged by the constant and ongoing violations against black people's lives from Ferguson to Oakland to San Francisco to Cleveland to Staten Island," said Jason Wallach of Showing Up for Racial Justice, one of the organizations involved in the demonstration expected to be replicated in 27 cities.

In Berkeley, protesters stopped at City Hall late Tuesday, where a city councilman addressed the crowd and said he will ask for an investigation into the police response to the protest Saturday, when the latest wave of demonstrations began.

Bay Area Rapid Transit's downtown Berkeley and McArthur stations were closed as a precaution Tuesday night, and Amtrak train service was suspended between the Oakland Coliseum station stop and Richmond because of the protest. A scheduled Berkeley City Council meeting was canceled after threats to disrupt it, Mayor Tom Bates said.

The crowd briefly shut down state Route 23, which connects Berkeley to Oakland.

A California Highway Patrol official had said 80% of its available staff would be deployed to monitor the protest after the crowd of 1,500 blocked all lanes of I-80 and halted an Amtrak train Monday night. The agency arrested 223 people Monday on suspicion of resisting arrest, obstructing police and other charges, said Ernie Sanchez, assistant chief of the CHP's Golden Gate Division. Berkeley police arrested an additional nine people.

They face bails of up to $50,000, and many remain in custody, he said.

Authorities confirmed that officers had arrested several protesters Tuesday, but the CHP declined to identify how many were detained. The Associated Press reported that at least 19 had been arrested.

TheLos Angeles Times (TNS) contributed.