About 200 people staged a "die-in" at the University of Michigan Law Library Friday afternoon, lying flat on the floor for four minutes in open areas and between tables, to show their outrage of the killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown at the hands of police.

"We had a meeting yesterday to just talk about feelings of students at the law school and how they're feeling about this for black students in particular," said Britney Littles, co-chairwoman of U-M's Black Law Student Association. "Later on in the evening, we were like 'well we need to do something,' we can't do a lot right now because it's finals time but we can say something."

The event started off outside on the Law Quad, at 625 S. State St., where people made the "hands up" gesture for a solidarity photo. The gesture symbolizes what witnesses have said Brown did before being shot.

Brown was shot dead by officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. Some witnesses reported that Brown assaulted Wilson while others said Wilson was the aggressor. Garner was choked to death by officer Daniel Pantaleo on July 17 in Staten Island, New York. His last words were "I can't breathe." Grand juries recently declined to return indictments in both cases.

The die-in began at 12:13 p.m. and ended 4.5 minutes later. Littles said they purposefully made it 4.5 minutes to represent Michael Brown's body being left on the street for 4.5 hours.

"We're hoping in the days and weeks to come that there's more awareness in the community about these issues that are happening," Littles said. "We want students to take action because really we're going out to the communities and we're going to be the leaders."

Littles said the event was planned the night before when members of the organization reached out to various student organizations throughout the university and created Facebook posts to spread the word. Littles estimated about 200 people participated.

Jasmyne Jackson, first-year medical student at U-M and member of the Black Medical Association, said she and her classmates felt the need to be part of the event to show their support. She said social media is one thing but it is also important to engage physically.

"It's imperative that people use their voice to speak out against issues," Jackson said. "The issue may not directly affect your personal identity but it's important that we have solidarity with these issues or else they're not going to be resolved."

Freshman Abby McCulloch was studying inside the Law Library when the event began and was unsure of what was going on.

"I thought they were some sort of law student tour, I didn't expect it at all," McCulloch said. "I thought it was interesting."

Similar events have occurred in other cities. In New York, protesters took the streets demonstrating their opposition to the grand jury's decision to not indict Pantaleo.

Demonstrators also gathered for a similar event in Detroit then later chanted "I can't breathe."