A protest against police brutality that originally sparked consternation with talk of “shutting down” the Twin Cities Marathon passed without incident Sunday, with protesters firmly cordoned off from runners even as they demonstrated nearby.

Traffic on a few streets was blocked as the group marched, but the marathon wasn’t disrupted and police made no arrests.

The protest was organized by Black Lives Matter St. Paul in response to police use of force. It focused on Philip Quinn, 30, who was fatally shot by a St. Paul officer in the West Seventh neighborhood Sept. 24.

Police had been called on a report of a suicidal man and encountered Quinn, who had a history of mental health issues and run-ins with law enforcement. Police have not said what led the officer to shoot, and the case is under investigation.

Protesters called for better police training for working with those diagnosed with mental illness, something the St. Paul department says it is working on.

The protest began with a rally in Boyd Park on Selby Avenue, about two blocks from Cathedral of St. Paul. From there, about 80 people marched into the street on Dayton Avenue, west a block to Western Avenue, then north over Interstate 94 to St. Anthony Avenue.

They blocked some drivers along the way. Police announced on a loudspeaker that the marchers were in violation of state law and that they needed to leave the road, but the group continued on.

They chanted, “No justice, no peace, prosecute the police!,” and “Black lives matter! Natives live matter!” Quinn was American Indian.

Some also held signs with slogans like “Black Lives Finish Times” and “(expletive) Yo Finish Time.”

On Monday, Black Lives Matter St. Paul will be calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the St. Paul Police Department as a whole, highlighting the Quinn case, said Rashad Turner, lead organizer. They will meet with community members to put together a comprehensive outline of concerns, he said.

The group staged a “die-in” on John Ireland Boulevard, lying down in the street as runners crossed the finish line nearby.

A row of law enforcement officers stood between the group and the runners and spectators and moved with the protesters when they continued marching.

Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman, said the protest went well. The group took a different route than originally planned, but “it all worked out,” he said.

Turner announced during the march that they were deviating from their planned route because the race’s finish line had been moved.

But Linders said, “Absolutely, the finish line was not moved.” It was in the same place as years past.

Race organizers declined to comment on the matter or on the protest, saying it was handled by other agencies.

Turner later said his understanding was that the finish line was in front of the Minnesota Historical Society at Kellogg and John Ireland boulevards, not by the Capitol. The area they had agreed to protest in was a grassy area near the Cathedral.

“I knew we needed to do something else so we weren’t just put into a corner and silenced, basically,” Turner said.

Linders said officers handled the change deftly.

“It all worked out,” he said.

Nathaniel Khaliq, the former St. Paul NAACP president who helped guide Sunday’s march, said the group was also trying to circumnavigate a small contingent of counterprotesters, including a man with a confederate flag.

“There was no way in hell we were going to follow them to this destination,” Khaliq said.

When the protesters were assembled near the Cathedral, across John Ireland Boulevard from the runners — but with a fence and police between them — they cheered when runners going by gave them a thumbs up or a fist up in solidarity.

Black Lives Matter St. Paul announced the protest late last month and originally said it planned on “shutting down” the marathon.

That drew an outcry from some community members and a sharp response from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and police Chief Thomas Smith, who said there would be arrests if the marathon were disrupted.

Coleman and Turner met last week, and Turner announced the protest wouldn’t interfere with runners. He stressed during the rally: “We’re not going on the course,” and anyone who does so “is not part of us.”

In the end, runners and protesters never collided. As protesters chanted near the finish line, their voices were often drowned out by marathon announcers over the loud speaker, calling out finishers.