Black Lives Matter protesters arraigned on disorderly conduct charges

Victoria E. Freile | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption 16 people arrested at Black Lives Matter protest in Rochester Sights and sounds from Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Rochester. (July 7, 2018)

Sixteen people arrested at a Black Lives Matter protest over the weekend were arraigned Monday morning in City Court.

Sixteen adults, ranging in age from 19 to 71, were each charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, a violation, following Saturday's protest downtown.

Each of the defendants appeared one at a time before before City Court Judge Teresa Johnson to enter a plea of not guilty. Each was given a date to return to court.

The protest started as a rally around 4 p.m. in Washington Square Park, but developed into a 150-person march that meandered through areas of downtown and temporarily closed several busy intersections.

More: 16 people arrested at Black Lives Matter protest in Rochester

More: Police make 16 arrests after Black Lives Matter protesters block street downtown

Protesters who were ultimately arrested blocked South Clinton Avenue and Woodbury Street as they locked arms and sat in the middle of the typically busy intersection. Officers closed the ramp that leads motorists from Interstate 490 to South Clinton Avenue and redirected traffic. The intersection remained closed for nearly two hours.

Officers in riot gear and armed with nonlethal weapons issued warnings in English and Spanish, attempting to disperse the crowd.

Court papers allege that each defendant was accused of sitting on the ground in the intersection and failing to comply with repeated directions from police officers to leave the roadway.

Protesters said they have repeatedly invited police and city officials to sit and communicate with them. They said their requests have been ignored.

In a written statement, the group on Monday said: "We believe that the oppressed must take their liberation and narratives in their own hands. We mustn’t ask the powers at be to expose themselves for what they are, we must take it upon ourselves to speak and act upon our own truth. This is a rally cry, battle cry, call to action for all black people to start challenging, asking questions, reconstructing our stories, and engaging in actions that’ll push us further to our collective goal of freedom from this system. We are all we have, and in that, we have all we need."

The protesters said Rochester Police Department's reaction to the protest felt like an active war zone.

According to the statement, the group said they believe Rochester police and the city of Rochester "have shown themselves to be in opposition of the fight for Black lives and we do not see them fit to ensure that our voices will be heard. We’re used to feeling powerless, and being shown that the only way to gain power is through the same chains that bind us. We have to come to a collective realization that these efforts have failed us time and time again, and it’s time to imagine a world where our humanity isn’t an afterthought."

VFREILE@Gannett.com