Chained protesters block Oakland federal building

Photo: Kurtis Alexander, The Chronicle Protesters blocked the entrance of the Federal Building in Oakland...

A group of protesters chained themselves together and partly blocked the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Friday morning in downtown Oakland, saying they wanted to reclaim the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The demonstration began at 6:30 a.m. and lasted for 4½ hours, the length of time the body of Michael Brown was left on the street after he was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August.

The protesters allowed full access to the building afterward and hugged each other to loud cheers.

More than a dozen protesters converged outside the twin-tower building at 1301 Clay St., which houses federal offices. Some had tubes covering their wrists and forearms that read, “3rd World Unite” and “Silence is Violence.”

Other protesters held signs reading, “Third World for Black Power” and “Global Resistance Against Police Violence.”

The entrance to federal courthouses in the south tower remained open.

Demonstrators said the U.S. government helps oppress blacks and citizens of third-world countries and that they were protesting to honor King’s “legacy of struggle and internationalism.”

“By engaging in this action, we want to make clear that as long as this war continues, there will be no business usual,” read a statement issued by the group Third World Resistance.

Protester Micah Frazier, 40, of Oakland said, “I think it’s important that we’re in action and in the streets. That is our first demand: that police violence stop.“

The action began about 6:30 a.m. Federal Protective Service police officers, the division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that protects federal buildings, were on the scene.

The demonstration was the latest protest in which activists chained themselves to each other in Oakland.

In November, 14 demonstrators who locked themselves to each other and to a BART train at the West Oakland Station were arrested and charged. Activists upset about the prosecutions protested Friday at BART stations in downtown San Francisco.

On Dec. 15, protesters chained themselves together and blocked Oakland police headquarters to draw attention to what they say was police aggression against minorities.

Henry K. Lee and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee @kurtisalexander